"But would you take a chance on the results?" I asks.

"One of the silly things I've learned from you," says Vee, lowerin' her
eyelids fetchin', "is to--to take a chance."

"Vee!" says I, startin' to dash around the table.

"Hush!" says she, wavin' me hack. "Here come your eggs."

Say, what went on durin' the rest of the day I couldn't tell. I expect
it was a good deal the same kind of an afternoon we'd been havin' right
along, but to me it was three X double A with the band playin'. I was
light in the head and I had springs in my heels. Everything and
everybody looked good to me.

I jollied Old Hickory into lettin' me tip the sailors that had lugged
the sacks aboard, and I threw in some of his best cigars just by way of
relievin' my feelin's. Whenever I passed Captain Rupert Killam I
hammered him on the back folksy and told him he sure was some
discoverer. I even let Mrs. Mumford feed me an earful about how the
late dear Mr. Mumford always remembered to send home a bunch of roses
on their weddin' anniversary. Rather than revisit the scene himself, I
suppose.

But when it come to playin' opposite Auntie--say, I was right there
with the Percy-boy stuff: givin' her a hand up the stairs when she came
on deck, leadin' her to a chair on the shady side, and hintin' how she
looked mighty chipper after an all-night session such as we'd had.
Talk about smooth stuff! I had the inside of a banana peel lookin'
like a nutmeg grater.

Auntie falls for it, too. She has me whisper in her ear just where the
treasure is stowed and how complete we'd thrown the crew off the trail.
I works up that sketch of my talk with the Swede second mate until I
had her shoulders shakin'.

"What a boy you are!" says she, gaspy.

"Don't overlook the fact that I'll be votin' next year," says I.

"How absurd!" says Auntie.

"We do grow up, you know," says I. "It's a habit we have. And now,
how about a glass of that iced pineapple the steward fixes so well?
Sure! Lemme fetch a couple."

The climax was when she got me to holdin' a skein of yarn for her. As
Old Hickory strolls by and sees me with my hands stuck out, I thought
he was goin' to swallow his cigar.

Still, I couldn't get just the right cue. Not that I'd mapped out
anything definite. I only knew I had something special and particular
to say to Auntie, but I couldn't spring it unless I got the proper
hunch. So the afternoon petered out, and the sun dropped into th