and there are no objections. But what are you talking about?
Who wants to be married?'

"'I can't say jes now,' answered Sam; 'matters isn't settled yet: but
everything is goin' ahead lively with a stiff breeze, and I guess we'll
get into soundin's pretty soon. I only spoke to you to know if you'd be
all right when the couple's ready.'

"'There is nothing the matter with me,' said the young man; 'but I would
like to know--'

"'Jes you lay to for a while,' said Sam, 'and I'll tell you all about
it.' And then, noticing that Mrs. Sickles was glancing toward the
captain and his companion as if she thought to join them, he dashed out
upon her to cut her off.

"Meanwhile Miss Denby, with glowing eyes, was saying: 'Yes, I do love to
sail, and to sail in a small boat, close to the water, almost as if I
were in it, skimming like a bird with my wings dipping. Oh, it is grand!
And you have a sail-boat?'

"And the captain answered: 'Indeed I have, and there's none better,
either for sailing on the wind, or before the wind, or with next to no
wind at all.'

"'How wonderfully you must sail it! I could not keep my eyes off you as
you brought us over here. It was grand! You made her do anything you
pleased.'

"The captain smiled and nodded. 'But I think of my house as much as I do
of my boat, miss,' said he. 'I've got a mighty nice parlor that's as
good as any ship's cabin. And now let me put this p'int to you: if you
had a big king conch-shell, the prettiest you ever seed, and it was on
the middle of the mantelpiece, and you had a gilded idol in another
place, would you put the idol where the conch-shell was, and the
conch-shell where the idol was, or would you leave 'em both jes where
they was afore?'

"The young woman laughed merrily. 'What kind of an idol would it be?'
she asked. 'A beautiful piece of carving?'

"''Tain't that,' said Captain Abner; 'it's jes a piece of wood whittled
out by a heathen; but it used to be in a temple, and it's gilded all
over.'

"'Oh, dear!' said she, 'I don't think much of that sort of an idol. I
might like to be a gilded idol myself, if I had the right person to
worship me. But as for a wooden idol, I wouldn't put that on the
mantelpiece, and I am of the same opinion as to the conch-shell.'

"'But it's a king conch-shell,' said the captain.

"'I don't care,' said she; 'king or queen, it would be all the same to
me. But if I were you I think I'd be most of the time in the boat. What