flounces out of that room like a hurricane. And it was still as could
be for a minute, and then two or three of the girls begun to squeal and
giggle behind their handkerchiefs.

Jonadab and me went away, too. We didn't flounce any to speak of. I
guess a "sneak" would come nearer to telling how we quit. I see the
cap'n heading for the stairs and I fell into his wake. Nobody said
good-night, and we didn't wait to give 'em a chance.

'Course we knew we'd put our foot in it somewheres, but we didn't see
just how. Even then we wa'n't really onto Phil's game. You see, when a
green city chap comes to the Old Home House--and the land knows there's
freaks enough do come--we always try to make things pleasant for him,
and the last thing we'd think of was making him a show afore folks.
So we couldn't b'lieve even now 'twas done a-purpose. But we was
suspicious, a little.

"Barzilla," says Jonadab, getting ready to turn in, "'tain't possible
that that feller with the sprained last name is having fun with us, is
it?"

"Jonadab," says I, "I've been wondering that myself."

And we wondered for an hour, and finally decided to wait a while and
say nothing till we could ask Ebenezer. And the next morning one of the
stewards comes up to our room with some coffee and grub, and says
that Mr. Catesby-Stuart requested the pleasure of our comp'ny on a
afore-breakfast ice-boat sail, and would meet us at the pier in half
an hour. They didn't have breakfast at Ebenezer's till pretty close to
dinner time, eleven o'clock, so we had time enough for quite a trip.