his mouth, and listened to him with gruff and surly attention. Marks,
who was anxiously and with much fidgeting compounding a tumbler of punch
to his own peculiar taste, occasionally looked up from his employment,
and, poking his sharp nose and chin almost into Haley's face, gave the
most earnest heed to the whole narrative. The conclusion of it appeared
to amuse him extremely, for he shook his shoulders and sides in silence,
and perked up his thin lips with an air of great internal enjoyment.

"So, then, ye'r fairly sewed up, an't ye?" he said; "he! he! he! It's
neatly done, too."

"This yer young-un business makes lots of trouble in the trade," said
Haley, dolefully.

"If we could get a breed of gals that didn't care, now, for their young
uns," said Marks; "tell ye, I think 't would be 'bout the greatest
mod'rn improvement I knows on,"--and Marks patronized his joke by a
quiet introductory sniggle.

"Jes so," said Haley; "I never couldn't see into it; young uns is heaps
of trouble to 'em; one would think, now, they'd be glad to get clar on
'em; but they arn't. And the more trouble a young un is, and the more
good for nothing, as a gen'l thing, the tighter they sticks to 'em."

"Wal, Mr. Haley," said Marks, "'est pass the hot water. Yes, sir, you
say 'est what I feel and all'us have. Now, I bought a gal once, when
I was in the trade,--a tight, likely wench she was, too, and quite
considerable smart,--and she had a young un that was mis'able sickly; it
had a crooked back, or something or other; and I jest gin 't away to
a man that thought he'd take his chance raising on 't, being it didn't