to Captain Killam?"

"But he didn't," speaks up Vee. "He was telling it to me; that is, we
were telling it to each other--making it up as we went along. So
there!"

"Oh!" says Mr. Ellins. "And the Captain happened to overhear, did he?"

"Happened!" says I. "Like you happen to climb a fire-escape. That's
Rupert's long suit--overhearin' things. He's been favorin' us a lot
lately."

"What about that, Killam?" asks Mr. Ellins.

"Why--er--ah--" stutters Rupert, "perhaps I have. But when you see two
persons getting off by themselves and talking so much together, you
naturally--"

"Bah!" explodes Old Hickory. "Can't you remember back to nineteen,
Killam?" Then he turns to me. "So you concocted this plot story for
Captain Killam's benefit, did you?"

I nods.

"I thought it would keep him off our heels for a while," says I. "I
fed him an earful, I guess."

"Young man," says Mr. Ellins, shakin' a forefinger at me, but lettin'
his left eyelid drop knowin', "the next time I find that imagination of
yours running loose I--I'll authorize Captain Killam to catch it and
put it in irons. Now let's have luncheon."

CHAPTER XIII

WHEN THE NAVY HORNED IN

One thing about this yacht-cruisin' act is how close a line you get on
the people you're shut up with. Why, this cross-mated bunch of ours
hadn't been out in the _Agnes_ more'n three days before I could have
told you the life hist'ry of 'most everyone in the party.

I knew that the late Mr. Mumford had been a noble soul who wore full
face lambrequins and was fussy about his food. From the picture Mrs.
Mumford showed Vee and me, I judged he must have looked like an upstate
banker; but come to get down to cases, she admits he was in the coal
and lumber business over in Montclair, New Jersey.

About J. Dudley Simms I dug up all kinds of information. He'd been
brought up by an old uncle who'd made a million or so runnin' an ale
brewery and who had a merry little dream that he was educatin' J.
Dudley to be a minister. If he'd lasted a couple of years longer, too,
it would have been the Rev. J. Dudley Simms for a fact; but when uncle
cashed in, Dudley left the divinity school abrupt and forgot ever to go
back.

I even discovered that Professor Leonidas Barr, the fish expert and Old
Hickory's cribbage partner, had once worked in a shoe store and could
still guess the size of a young lady's foot by lookin' at her hands.
But when it came to collectin' any