self hath flown the Jolly Rover? Cease your fears and come
aboard--that is to say, come ashore."

"Git out, Jimmy," I heard the captain say in a low voice, after a
moment of indecision. "Keep him covered till I tie her up."

Jimmy, the fair-haired pirate, hauled in on the alders and flung a
grappling iron aboard my bank, which presently he ascended. As he
stood free from the screening fringe of bushes, I saw that he was
slender, and not very tall, one not wholly suited by nature to his
stern calling. His once white jacket now was soiled, and one leg of
his knickers was loose, from his scramble up the bank. He was belted
beyond all earl-like need; wore indeed two belts, which supported two
long hunting knives and a Malay kris, such as we now get from the
Philippines; as well as a revolver large beyond all proportion to his
own size. A second revolver of like dimensions now trembled in his
hand, and even though its direction toward me was no more than
general, I resumed the goose-flesh underneath my waistcoat, for no man
could tell what might happen. In none of my works with dangerous big
game have I felt a similar uneasiness; no, nor even in the little
affair in China where the Boxers held us up, did I ever really
consider the issue more in doubt. It pleased me, however, to make no
movement of offense or defense; and luckily the revolver was not
discharged.

When the two had topped the bank, and had approached me--taking cover
behind trees in a way which made me suspect Boy Scout training,
mingled with bandit literature--to a point where we could see each
other's features plainly, I moved over to one side of my bank, and
motioned them to approach.

"Come alongside, brothers," said I, pushing my fly-rod to one side;
"make fast and come aboard. And tell me, what cheer?"

They drew up to me, stern of mien, bold of bearing, dauntless of
purpose. At least, so I was convinced, each wished and imagined
himself to seem; and since they wished so to be seen thus, seized by
some sudden whim, I resolved to see them. How I envied them! Theirs
all the splendor of youth, of daring, of adventure, of romance;
things gone by from me, or for the most part, never known.

Frowning sternly, they seated themselves reluctantly on the grassy
bank beside me, and gazed out in the dignity of an imagined manhood
across my river, which now was lighted bravely by the retiring sun.
Had I not felt with them, longed with them, they could never so