though there was the
Dutch clock with the horrified countenance in the corner, and the new
clock near it, and the portraits and the great four-poster, and all the
other articles of elegance and luxury with which Mrs Gaff had filled
her humble dwelling.

"A queer place," muttered the mad skipper in a soft voice to himself, as
he moved about the room, poked up the fire, and made preparations for
spending the night. "Gaff wouldn't know the old cabin--humph! but it's
all done out o' kindness; well, well, there's no accountin' for women,
they're paridoxies. Hallo! this here closet didn't use to be bolted,
but it's bolted now. Hows'ever here's the loaf and the tea-pot an' the
kettle. Now, Mrs Gaff, you're an attentive creetur, nevertheless
you've forgot bilin' water, an', moreover, there an't no water in the
house. Ah, here's a bucket; that'll do; I'll go to the well an' help
myself; it's _well_ that I can do it," said Haco, chuckling at his own
pun with great satisfaction as he went out to the back of the house.

There was a sudden, though not loud, sound of hollow brass chinking
under the four-post bed.

"Now then, _can't_ you keep still?" said the clarionet in a hoarse
whisper.

"It's cramp in my leg," growled the trombone. "I'd have had to come out
if he hadn't guv me this chance."

"_Won't_ you hold your tongues?" whispered Gildart from the closet, the
door of which he opened slightly.

He shut it with a sudden clap, and there was another clanking of brass
as Haco's footsteps were heard outside, but dead silence reigned within
the hut when the skipper re-entered, and set down on the floor a large
bucket full of water.

"Now then for tea," said Haco, rubbing his hands, as he set about the
preparation of that meal. Being acquainted with the ways and localities
of the cottage, he speedily had the board spread, and the tea smoking
thereon, while the fire flared cheerfully on the walls, casting fine
effects of light and shade on the pictures, and sprinkling the
prominences of the clocks, bed, and furniture with ruddy gleams.

Having devoured his meal with an appetite and gusto worthy of his size,
Haco filled his much-loved German pipe, and, selecting the strongest
chair in the room, sat cautiously down on it beside the fire to enjoy a
smoke.

Meanwhile the brass band endured agonies unutterable. The trombone
afterwards vowed that he "wouldn't for fifty sovs" again go through what
he had suffered during th