in Dartmouth County, Mass."

We were overwhelmed. This was more than we dared hope for,--more than
we had even dreamed of!

"Now, boys," said the Captain in a fatherly tone, "lemme tell you
something. While I've been a-roostin' up here in my perch, I've been
a-watchin' you boys; a-watchin' an' a-worryin'. What have you been
a-doin'? You've been a-raisin' hell, you have. Son, you ain't a rote
a word, have yer? An' you, Whinney--boy, you ain't ketched a bug nor
a beetle, have yer? And you, ole Swanko-panko, you ain't drawed a line,
have yer?"

We hung our heads like schoolboys before the master. Of course if
Triplett put it that way, on moral grounds, so to speak, there was no
more to be said.

"Well, what's the answer?" he continued. "It's time you got married
an' settled down, ain't it? When is it to be?"

* * *

It was a triple wedding, the first and probably the last in the Filbert
Islands, and one of the most charming affairs I have ever seen. We
left the selection of our brides to Baahaabaa and, believe me, he
showed himself a master-picker. The ceremony took place on the beach
at high midnight, the fashionable island hour.

How happy we all were! Triplett's qualifications had completely cleared
the atmosphere of any moral misgivings which might have clouded the