“That’s an unmitigated falsehood!” cried Noah, angrily.  “This man talks like a professional amateur yachtsman.  He has no regard for facts, but simply goes ahead and makes statements with an utter disregard of the truth.  The Ark was not stove in.  We beached her very successfully.  I say this in defence of my seamanship, which was top-notch for my day.”

“Couldn’t sail six weeks without fouling a mountain-peak!” sneered Wren, perceiving a chance to get even.

“The hole’s there, just the same,” said Charon.  “Maybe she was a centreboard, and that’s where you kept the board.”

“The hole is there because it was worn there by one of the elephants,” retorted Noah.  “You get a beast like the elephant shuffling one of his fore-feet up and down, up and down, a plank for twenty-four hours a day for forty days in one of your boats, and see where your boat would be.”

“Thanks,” said Charon, calmly.  “But the elephants don’t patronize my line.  All the elephants I’ve ever seen in Hades waded over, except Jumbo, and he reached his trunk across, fastened on to a tree limb with it, and swung himself over.  However, the Ark isn’t at all what you want, unless you are going to man her with a lot of centaurs.  If that’s your intention, I’d charter her; the accommodations are just the thing for a crew of that kind.”

“Well, what do you suggest?” asked Raleigh, somewhat impatiently.  “You’ve told us what we can’t do.  Now tell us what we can do.”

“I’d stay right here,” said Charon, “and let the ladies rescue themselves.  That’s what I’d do.  I’ve had the honor of bringing ’em over here, and I think I know ’em pretty well.  I’ve watched ’em close, and it’s my private opinion that before many days you’ll see your club-house sailing back here, with Queen Elizabeth at the hellum, and the other ladies on the for’ard deck knittin’ and crochetin’, and tearin’ each other to pieces in a conversational way, as happy as if there never had been any Captain Kidd and his pirate crew.”

“That suggestion is impossible,” said Blackstone, rising.  “Whether the relief expedition amounts to anything or not, it’s good to be set going.  The ladies would never forgive us if we sat here inactive, even if they were capable of rescuing themselves.  It is an accepted principle of law that this climate hath no fury like a woman left to herself, and we’ve got enough professional furies hereabouts without our aiding in augmenting the ranks.  We must have a boat.”

“It’ll cost you a thousand dollars a week,” said Charon.

“I’ll subscribe fifty,” cried Hamlet.

“I’ll consult my secretary,” said Solomon, “and find out how many of my wives have been abducted, and I’ll pay ten dollars apiece for their recovery.”

“That’s liberal,” said Hawkshaw.  “There are sixty-three of ’em on board, together with eighty of his fiancees.  What’s the quotation on fiancees, King Solomon?”