red into the room which he wished to hire, the sailor found
himself in an apartment so very unsuited to his size and character that
even he felt slightly troubled.

"It's not so much the size that bothers me," he said, stroking his chin
gently, "as the fittings."

There was some ground for the seaman's perplexity, for the closet in
which he stood, apart from the fact of its being only ten feet long by
six broad, had been arranged by the tasteful sisters after the manner of
a lady's boudoir, with a view to captivate some poor sister of very
limited means, or, perhaps, some humble-minded and possibly undersized
young clerk from the country. The bed, besides being rather small, and
covered with a snow-white counterpane, was canopied with white muslin
curtains lined with pink calico. The wash-hand stand was low, fragile,
and diminutive. The little deal table, which occupied an inconveniently
large proportion of the space, was clothed in a garment similar to that
of the bed. The one solitary chair was of that cheap construction which
is meant to creak warningly when sat upon by light people, and to
resolve itself into match-wood when the desecrator is heavy. Two
pictures graced the walls--one the infant Samuel in a rosewood frame,
the other an oil painting--of probably the first century, for its
subject was quite undistinguishable--in a gold slip. The latter was a
relic of better days--a spared relic, which the public had refused to
buy at any price, though the auctioneer had described it as a rare
specimen of one of the old--the very old--masters, with Rembrandtesque
proclivities. No chest of drawers obtruded itself in that small
chamber, but instead thereof the economical yet provident sisters,
foreseeing the importance of a retreat for garments, had supplied a deal
box, of which they stuffed the lid and then covered the whole with green
baize, thus causing it to serve the double purpose of a wardrobe and a
small sofa.

"However," said Captain Bream, after a brief but careful look round,
"it'll do. With a little cuttin' and carvin' here an' there, we'll
manage to squeeze in, for you must know, ladies, that we sea-farin' men
have a wonderful knack o' stuffin' a good deal into small space."

The sisters made no reply. Indeed they were speechless, and horrified
at the bare idea of the entrance of so huge a lodger into their quiet
home.

"Look ye here, now," he continued in a comfortable, self-satisfied tone,
as