tabby
cat.

DUKE: We 're a blessin' ter ol' Petey. I 'm bettin' me stump he 'd get
lonesome up there 'cept fer us. (_He points to the window to the
right, where the lighthouse shows._) There 's ol' Petey, starin' at
the ocean. Yer ain 't never seen a light at that t' other winder, has
yer Joe? We waits fer a merchantman which he knows has gold aboard.
Then we jest tips a hint ter Petey, and he douses his light. Then we
sets up our lantern--ol' Flint's lantern--outside on the rocks, jest
where she shows at t' other winder. The ship sticks her nose agin the
cliff. Smash!

(_At this point, after a few moments of convulsion, Patch-Eye falls
off the chest. He sits up and rubs his eyes._)

PATCH: I dreamed o' gibbets!

DUKE: Yer is lucky, ol' keg o' rum, yer does n't dream o' purple
rhinoceroses. Go back ter bed. (_Then to Joe._) Smash! I says. On
comes Petey agin. And we jest as innercent as babies in a crib. It was
me own idear. Brains, young feller. Jest yer wait, Joey, till yer sees
a light at t' other winder.

[Illustration: "And we jest as innercent as babies in a crib"]

(_Betsy is heard singing in the kitchen. The Duke stops and listens. A
dark thought runs through his head. His shrewd eye quests from kitchen
door to Joe._)

DUKE: Darlin'! Darlin'! (_She thrusts in her head._)

DUKE: Where 's Betsy?

DARLIN': She 's washin' dishes.

DUKE: I 'm wonderin' if she would lay off a bit from her jolly
occerpation, and sing us a leetle song.

DARLIN': (_calling_). Betsy! I wants yer.

PATCH: I never knowed yer cared fer music, Duke. Usually yer goes
outside. Yer jest boohs.

DUKE: I does usual, Patch. Tonight 's perticerler. Red Joe ain 't
never heard Betsy sing. Does yer like music, Joe?

JOE: I like the roaring of the ocean. I like to hear the trees tossing
in the wind.

PATCH: Wind ain 't music. Yer should hear Betsy. She 's got a leetle
song that makes yer feel as good and peaceful as a whinin' parson.

DARLIN': (_beckoning at the kitchen door_). Betsy! Stop sloppin' with
the dishes!

[Illustration: Betsy enters]

(_Betsy enters. She is a pretty girl. Our guess at her age is--but it
is better not to guess. We have in our own experience made several
humiliating blunders. Let us say that Betsy is young enough to be a
grand-daughter. Plainly she is a pirate by accident, not inheritance,
for she is clean and she wears a pretty dress._)

DUKE: (_as he rises and makes a show of manners_). Betsy, yer