s vast facade of starched white linen, where little diamonds
twinkled, circling three large pearls; his hands were stubby and strong,
and he used them freely in gestures of marked picturesqueness; and,
though he had grown fat at chin and waist and wrist, he had not lost the
look of readiness and activity.

He dominated the table, shouting jocular questions and railleries at
every one. His idea was that when people were having a good time they
were noisy; and his own additions to the hubbub increased his pleasure,
and, of course, met the warmest encouragement from his guests. Edith had
discovered that he had very foggy notions of the difference between a
band and an orchestra, and when it was made clear to him he had held out
for a band until Edith threatened tears; but the size of the orchestra
they hired consoled him, and he had now no regrets in the matter.

He kept time to the music continually--with his feet, or pounding on the
table with his fist, and sometimes with spoon or knife upon his plate
or a glass, without permitting these side-products to interfere with the
real business of eating and shouting.

"Tell 'em to play 'Nancy Lee'!" he would bellow down the length of
the table to his wife, while the musicians were in the midst of the
"Toreador" song, perhaps. "Ask that fellow if they don't know 'Nancy
Lee'!" And when the leader would shake his head apologetically in answer
to an obedient shriek from Mrs. Sheridan, the "Toreador" continuing
vehemently, Sheridan would roar half-remembered fragments of "Nancy
Lee," naturally mingling some Bizet with the air of that uxorious
tribute.

"Oh, there she stands and waves her hands while I'm away! A sail-er's
wife a sail-er's star should be! Yo ho, oh, oh! Oh, Nancy, Nancy, Nancy
Lee! Oh, Na-hancy Lee!"

"HAY, there, old lady!" he would bellow. "Tell 'em to play 'In the
Gloaming.' In the gloaming, oh, my darling, la-la-lum-tee--Well, if they
don't know that, what's the matter with 'Larboard Watch, Ahoy'? THAT'S
good music! That's the kind o' music I like! Come on, now! Mrs. Callin,
get 'em singin' down in your part o' the table. What's the matter you
folks down there, anyway? Larboard watch, ahoy!"

"What joy he feels, as--ta-tum-dum-tee-dee-dum steals. La-a-r-board
watch, ahoy!"

No external bubbling contributed to this effervescence; the Sheridans'
table had never borne wine, and, more because of timidity about it than
conviction, it bore none now; though "mine