relling, please!" he commanded, and
resumed, "As I was sayin', ladies and gentlemen--or as I was about to
say--the handlin' of a small boat demands certain gifts or, er,
qualities; and these gifts and, er, qualities bein' the gifts and h'm
qualities what made England such as we see her to-day,--a sea-farin'
nation an' foremost at that,--it follows that we cannot despise them if
we wish her to occupy the same position in the futur'--which to my mind
is education in a nutshell."

Again the scornful laugh echoed from the back of the crowd, and this
time Cai knew the voice. It stung him the more sharply, as in a flash
he recollected that the phrase "education in a nutshell" belonged
properly to a later paragraph, and in his flurry he had dragged it in
prematurely. His audience applauded, but Cai swung about in wrath.

"My remarks," said he, "don't seem to commend themselves to one o' my
hearers. But I'm talkin' now on a subjec' about which I know som'at,--
not about _ploughin'_."

The thrust was admirably delivered,--the more adroitly in that, on the
edge of delivering it, he had paused with a self-depreciatory smile.
Its point was taken up on the instant. The audience on deck sent up a
roar of laughter: and the roar spread and travelled away from the ship
in a widening circle as from boat to boat the shrewd hit was reported.
Distant explosions of mirth were still greeting it, when Cai, finding
voice again, and wisely cutting out his prepared peroration, concluded
as follows:--

"Any way, friends and naybours, I can wind up with something as'll
commend itself to everybody: and that is by wishin' success to Passage
Regatta, and askin' ye to give three cheers for Mrs Bosenna.
Hip--hip--"

"Hoo-ray! hoo-ray! hoo-ray!" The cheers were given with a will and
passed down the river in rolling echoes. But before the last echo died
away--while Mrs Bosenna smiled her acknowledgment--as the band formed up
for "God Save the Queen"--as they lifted their instruments and the
bandmaster tapped the music-stand with his baton,--at the top of his
voice 'Bias delivered his counter-stroke.

"And one more for Peter Benny!"

There was a momentary hush, and then--for Troy's sense of humour is
impartial, and everyone knew from what source Captain Hocken derived his
public eloquence--the air was rent with shout upon shout of merriment.
Even the band caught the contagion. The drummer drew a long applausive
rattle from his side-drum; th