nt and admirably
served, but we ate on in silence, not a syllable exchanged between us.
As the dessert appeared, I tried to open conversation. I affected to
seem easy and unconcerned, but the cold half-stern look of my companion
repelled all attempts, and I sat very sad and much discouraged, sipping
my wine.

"May I order some brandy-and-water? I like it better than these French
wines," asked he, abruptly; and as I arose to ring for it, he added,
"and you 'll not object to me having a pipe of strong Cavendish?" And
therewith he produced a leather bag and a very much smoked meerschaum,
short and ungainly as his own figure. As he thrust his hand into the
pouch, a small boat, about the size of a lady's thimble, rolled out from
amidst the tobacco; he quickly took it and placed it in his waistcoat
pocket,--the act being done with a sort of hurry that with a man of less
self-possession might have perhaps evinced confusion.

"You fancy you 've seen something, don't you?" said he, with a defiant
laugh. "I 'd wager a five-pound note, if I had one, that you think at
this moment you have made a great discovery. Well, there it is, make
much of it!"

As he spoke, he produced the little boat, and laid it down before me. I
own that this speech and the act convinced me that he was insane; I was
aware that intense suspectfulness is the great characteristic of
madness, and everything tended to show that he was deranged.

Rather to conceal what was passing in my own mind than out of curiosity,
I took up the little toy to examine it. It was beautifully made, and
finished with a most perfect neatness; the only thing I could not
understand being four small holes on each side of the keel, fastened by
four little plugs.

"What are these for?" asked I.

"Can't you guess?" said he, laughingly.

"No; I have never seen such before."

"Well," said he, musingly, "perhaps they _are_ puzzling,--I suppose they
are. But mayhap, too, if I thought you 'd guess the meaning, I 'd not
have been so ready to show it to you." And with this he replaced the
boat in his pocket and smoked away. "You ain't a genius, my worthy
friend, that's a fact," said he, sententiously.

"I opine that the same judgment might be passed upon a great many?" said
I, testily.

"No," continued he, following on his own thoughts without heeding my
remark, "_you 'll_ not set the Thames a-fire."

"Is that the best test of a man's ability?" asked I, sneeringly.

"You're the