oo. Bobbie and Marjorie have hardly snuggled up in one end of a
hammock to watch the moon do things to the wavelets before here is
Harold, with a fresh line of talk that he's bent on deliverin' while the
mood is on.

Gettin' no answer from his audience didn't bother him a bit; for passin'
out the monologue is his strong suit. Not to seem partial, he trails down
Charlie and Helen and converses with them too. Course, all this occurrin'
outside, I couldn't watch everything that took place; but I sits in the
lib'ry with Sadie a lot more contented than I'd been before that week.

And when Marjorie drifts in alone, along about nine o'clock, and goes to
drummin' on the piano, I smiles. Ten minutes later Helen appears too; and
it's only when neither of the boys show up that I begins wonderin'. I
asks no questions; but goes out on a scoutin' trip. There's nobody on the
veranda at all. Down by the waterfront, though, I could hear voices, and
I goes sleuthin' in that direction.

"Yes," I could hear Harold sayin' as I got most to the boat landin', "the
phosphorescence that ignorant sailors attribute to electricity in the air
is really a minute marine animal which----"

I expect I'll never know the rest; for just then there's a break in the
lecture.

"One, two, three--now!" comes from Bobbie, and before Harold can let out
a single squeal they've grabbed him firm and secure, one by the heels and
the other by the collar, and they've begun sousin' him up and down off
the edge of the float. It was high tide too.

"Uggle-guggle! Wow!" remarks Harold between splashes.

"That's right," observes Charles through, his teeth. "Swallow a lot of
it, you windbag! It'll do you good."

Course, these young gents was guests of mine, and I hadn't interfered
before with their partic'lar way of enjoyin' themselves; so I couldn't
begin now. But after they was through, and a draggled, chokin',
splutterin' youth had gone beatin' it up the path and over towards the
next place, I strolls down to meet 'em as they are comin' up to the
house.

"Hope you didn't see what happened down there just now, Professor," says
Bobbie.

"Me?" says I. "Well, if I did I can forget it quick."

"Thanks, old man!" says both of 'em, pattin' me friendly on the
shoulder.

"The little beast!" adds Charles. "He had the nerve to say you had put
him up to it. That's what finally earned him his ducking, you know."

"Well, well!" says I. "Such a nice spoken youngster too!