nd they listened eagerly and without
question to things their great-grandchildren would scoff at.

A travelled sailor can fit himself into any company. Paignton Rob
adjusted himself with the greatest nicety into his proper position that
day. He ate and drank to repletion, praising every dish without stint,
and paying his hostess such daring compliments that her round face was
a very sunset of blushes.

Nick and Ned Johnson played their accustomed part of chorus, and just
said "ay, ay" at the proper time and place. And Rob did not keep his
audience too long waiting for his stories. He described the tropical
seas--their storms and calms, their fish that flew, and the fearsome
monsters that gambolled along their surface. He took his hearers into
the gloomy forests, with their myriad forms of life, their gaudy birds
and gorgeous insects, their lurking beasts and dense-packed horrors.
Weird cries and terrifying howls rang out in imaginative sounds. And
what horrific beings stalked in the dim alleys betwixt the giant trees,
or peeped forth at the intrepid traveller from cave and den!
One-horned beasts with fiery hoofs; dragons that had wings of brass,
and vomited flames from cavernous throats; huge birds, enormous
reptiles, flew or crawled in their appointed places. Two-headed men
wielded clubs of stone; men with no heads at all, but one great eye in
the centre of their breasts, glared malevolently from the pits wherein
they had their habitation. The little company in the tavern parlour
shivered with affright, and cast uneasy glances at the doorway.
Then--wonderful Rob!--a sinewy, thumbless hand swept the air like an
enchanter's wand, and lo! the scene was changed. Gloom and horror
fled, the forest vanished, the malodorous swamp gave place to smiling
meadow. The hills frowned no longer, but laughed with fertility and
sparkled with a thousand fairy rills and cascades. Fair cities
encircled their bases, and golden temples glittered in the ardent,
tropical sunshine. Brown-skinned, gentle people flitted gracefully
along the streets and through the squares. Music, barbaric but
melodious, hummed through the fragrant air. Here was the paradise of
dreams--bright colours, sweet sounds, fragrant odours, gentle beings,
fair peace, and jocund plenty! Rob was a poet, and his audience panted
with parting lips as he spread the scene before them.

Then he brought them nearer. See yonder roof?--plates of beaten gold!
Yonde