if you will only give
him the treat--and then, he will not shock the sensitive nerves of the
sailors, by hanging them near the sea," sneered the handsome old lady.

"I hate to see things done in a lubberly manner," muttered the old tar.

"Oh, pray oblige him, Mrs. Lyndsay. He is such an old woman. I wonder he
does not ask your permission to let him wash the clothes."

"Fresh water is not my element, Mrs. Kitson, though I have long known
that _hot_ water is yours. I never suffer a woman to touch my ropes, and
Mrs. Lyndsay borrowed those ropes this morning of me. Don't interrupt
me, Mrs. K.; attend to your business, and leave me to mine. Put a
stopper upon that clapper of yours; which goes at the rate of ten knots
an hour--or look out for squalls."

In the hope of averting the storm, which Flora saw was gathering on the
old man's brow, and which in all probability had been brewing all the
morning, she assured the Captain, that he might take the command of her
nurse, ropes, clothes, and all.

"Mrs. Lyndsay,--you are a sensible woman,--which is more than I can say
of some folks," glancing at his wife; "and I hope that you mean to
submit patiently to the yoke of matrimony; and not pull one way, while
your husband pulls the other. To sail well together on the sea of life,
you must hold fast to the right end of the rope and haul in the same
direction."

His hand was upon the lock of the door, and the old lady had made
herself sure of his exit, and was comfortably settling herself for a
fresh spell of gossip at his expense, when he suddenly returned to the
sofa on which Flora was seated; and putting his mouth quite close to her
ear, while his little inquisitive grey eyes sparkled with intense
curiosity, said, in a mysterious whisper, "How is this, my dear--I hear
that you are going to leave us?"

Flora started with surprise. Not a word had transpired of the
conversation she had lately held with her husband. Did the old Captain
possess the gift of second-sight? "Captain Kitson," she said, in rather
an excited tone; while the colour flushed up into her face, "Who told
you so?"

"Then it is true?" and the old fox rubbed his hands and nodded his head,
at the success of his stratagem. "Who told me?--why I can't say, who
told me. You know, where there are servants living in the house, and
walls are thin--news travels fast."

"And when people have sharp ears to listen to what is passing in their
neighbours' houses," mutter