sent up
tew 'er?' says I. 'Why, one on 'em was r'al good, Uncle Leezur,' says
he, 'and one on 'em'"--Captain Leezur glanced cautiously toward the
house-door before he continued--"'one on 'em was tough as the devil's
kite-string; tough as a d--d old crow!' says he.

"Wal, I made it up to Note in more ways 'n one, for him and me was
great mates; but I never let on 'beout that pertickaler mess o' birds.
Keep yer mouth shet, ye know, and ye won't eat no crow--that is, 'less
somebody 's been playin' some ongodly trick on ye."

Captain Leezur never laughed aloud: his smile simply widened and
broadened until it became a scintillating sun, without the disgrace of
cachinnation.

"Neow there 's all'as a meanin' in figgeral language," he continued,
"an' when Mis' Garrison got set ag'inst Note and Vesty's marryin', jest
'cause Vesty was poor an' a Basin, an' set ter work ter break it off by
fair means or by feoul, she got her meouth open for a good-sized
ondigestible mess o' crow.

"In figgeral language; for I don't reck'lect jest the exac' date when
she did r'a'ly eat crow; 'twas a good many years ago, 'n' I wouldn't
have her hear of it neow for nothin'. I'm natch'ally ashamed o' them
ongodly tricks neow--'nd besides, it 'u'd lay harder on her stommick 'n
a high-school grammar."

"I won't tell her," I said. "I'm hardly acquainted with her, anyway."

"I'd give all I've got, every mite, ef it c'd help save Note," said
Captain Leezur, a tear trickling down his sun-face. "All things is
good ef we use 'em in moderation; but we've got ter use moderation, in
eatin' an' drinkin', an' lobster sallid--yes, an' even in passnips.
Nothin' 'll dew but the same old rewl, even in passnips.

"I heered voices deown to the shore last night," he continued, with a
sort of yearning confidence toward me, so that I bent my ear nearer,
with some of his own sorrow. "I reckoned one on 'em was Notely's
voice, talkin' and larfin' as hilar'ous as ef 'twas sun-up. So I went
deown there, and there was Note and one o' them fellers with him, each
on 'em with a stiff tod o' whiskey aboard, a-pullin' there for dear
life, an' the dory anchored fast as fast could be to the staple!

"They was lookin' for lan'marks and pullin' and sheoutin' and
larfin'--'twas kinder moonlight, ye know--and one on 'em says, 'Seems
ter me 't takes a cussed long time t' git to the Neck to-night,' says
he. I sot there an' watched 'em; knew 'twouldn't do 'em no harm t'
pull,