"'Sir.'

"'It's usual for the ladies,' sais I, 'to be together in
the airly part of the forenoon here, ain't it, afore the
gentlemen jine them?'

'"Yes, Sir.'

"'It puts me in mind,' sais I, 'of the old seals down to
Sable Island--you know where Sable Isle is, don't you?'

"'Yes, Sir, it's in the cathedral down here.'

"'No, no, not that, it's an island on the coast of Nova
Scotia. You know where that is sartainly.'

"'I never heard of it, Sir.'

"'Well, Lord love you! you know what an old seal is?'

"'Oh, yes, sir, I'll get you my master's in a moment.'

And off he sot full chisel.

"Cus him! he is as stupid as a rook, that crittur, it's
no use to tell him a story, and now I think of it, I will
go and smoke them black imps of darkness,--the rooks.'

"So I goes up stairs, as slowly as I cleverly could, jist
liftin' one foot arter another as if it had a fifty-six