usiness,
he's lettin' us out easier than I figger on."

The concerted glare of eyes that fairly assailed them when they
somewhat diffidently ventured into the office of the tavern
indicated that Hiram was not far off in his "figgerin'." The
embarrassed self-consciousness of Constable Nute, staring at the
stained ceiling, told much. The indignant eyes of the women told
more.

Mr. Parrott's brother was a sea-captain who had sent him "stuffed"
natural-history curios from all parts of the world, and Mr. Parrott
had arranged a rather picturesque interior. Miss Philamese Nile,
president of the W.T.W.'s, stood beneath a dusty alligator that swung
from the ceiling, and Cap'n Sproul, glancing from one to the other,
confessed to himself that he didn't know which face looked the most
savage.

She advanced on him, forefinger upraised.

"Before you go to spreadin' sail, marm," said the Cap'n, stoutly,
"you'd better be sure that you ain't got holt of the down-haul instead
of the toppin'-lift."

"Talk United States, Cap'n Sproul," snapped Miss Nile. "You've had
your money in this pit of perdition here, you and Hiram Look, the
two of you. As a town officer you've let Ferd Parrott fun a cheap,
nasty rum-hole, corruptin' and ruinin' the manhood of Smyrna, and
you've helped cover up this devilishness, though we, the wimmen of
this town, have begged and implored on bended knee. Now, that's plain,
straight Yankee language, and we want an answer in the same tongue."

Neither the Cap'n nor Hiram found any consolation at that moment in
the countenances of their respective wives. Those faces were very
red, but their owners looked away resolutely and were plainly
animated by a stern sense of duty, bulwarked as they were by the
Workers.

"We've risen for the honor of this town," continued Miss Nile.

"Well, stay up, then!" snorted the short-tempered Hiram. "Though as
for me, I never could see anything very handsome in a hen tryin' to
fly."

"Do you hear that?" shrilled Miss Nile. "Aren't you proud of your
noble husband, Mis' Look? Isn't he a credit to the home and an
ornament to his native land?"

But Hiram, when indignant, was never abashed.

"Wimmen," said he, "has their duties to perform and their place to
fill--all except old maids that make a specialty of 'tending to other
folks' business." He bent a withering look on Miss Nile. "Cap'n
Sproul and me ain't rummies, and you can't make it out so, not even
if you stand here and