the young lady with
deliberation and interest.

"Well, what do you say?" demanded Captain Cy.

"I don't care much for them kind of dogs," observed Asaph thoughtfully.

"Good land! you don't s'pose they heave the dog in with the clothes, for
good measure, do you? Bailey, what's your opinion?"

Mr. Bangs looked wise.

"I should say--" he said, "yes, sir, I should say that was a real
stylish rig-out. Only thing is, that girl is consider'ble less
fleshy than Emily. This one looks to me as if she was breakin' in two
amidships. Still, I s'pose likely the duds don't come ready made, so
they could be let out some, to fit. What's the price of a suit like
that, Whit?"

The captain looked at the printed number beneath the fashion plate and
then turned to the description in the text.

"'Afternoon gown for miss of sixteen,'" he read. "Humph! that settles
that, first crack. Bos'n ain't but half of sixteen."

"Anyway," put in Asaph, "you need somethin' she could wear forenoons, if
she wanted to. What's this one? She looks young enough."

The "one" referred to turned out to be a "coat for child of four."
It was therefore scornfully rejected. One after another the different
magazines were examined and the pictures discussed. At length a "costume
for miss of eight years" was pronounced to be pretty nearly the thing.

"Godfrey scissors!" exclaimed the admiring Mr. Tidditt. "That's mighty
swell, ain't it? What's the stuff goes into that, Cy?"

"'Material, batiste, trimmed with embroidered batiste.' What in time is
batiste?"

"I don't know. Do you, Bailey?"

"No; never heard of it. Ketury never had nothin' like that, I'm sure.
French, I shouldn't wonder. Well, Ketury's down on the French ever sence
she read about Napoleon leavin' his fust wife to take up with another
woman. Does it say any more?"

"Let's see. 'Makes a beautiful gown for evening or summer wear.' Summer!
Why, by the big dipper, we're aground again! Bos'n don't want summer
clothes. It's comin' on winter."

He threw the magazine on the floor, rubbed his forehead, and then burst
into a laugh.

"For goodness sake, don't tell anybody about this business, boys!" he
said. "I guess I must be havin' an early spring of second childhood. But
when I heard those women at the meetin' house goin' on about how pretty
'Licia Atkins was got up and how mean and shabby Bos'n looked, it made
me bile. And, by the big dipper, I WILL show 'em somethin' afore I get
through, too!