get his face into a right focus; but when brother Smalwood invited him to pray! that was shavin’ the thing a little too close—­more nor a man what was thinking about Splitwater and the mackerel could shoulder.  Had not a mite of an objection to ‘commodatin’ the good folks with ‘most anything, or puttin’ on the longest and seriousest face out doors—­a face that would beat the Deacon’s; but couldn’t go t’other thing.  Smooth could rather beat the Deacon on a serious face; but the old hoss was a regular steamboat when it come to exhortations and such things.  Wouldn’t ’a done to have a brush with the Deacon, without being sure of beating him, for he was mighty egotistical about his prayers.  Well, there was no help for it, we must feel kind and happy to see so many happy ones around one, who could not?  It was strictly in accordance with Smooth’s philosophy to make people as happy as possible, and so he kept asking anxious questions, gettin’ satisfactory answers,—­answers that would be sure to make me all straight in the pious, with a day or two’s consideration.

“In this way the spirits kept up until the pleasant hour of midnight came; then the Deacon invited me to go home and hang up at his house.  It was just the thing for Smooth, but he had to decline twice before he got over the polite so to accept:  and then he knew Split was taking the mackerel aboard like sixty.  So he went home with the deacon, turned in for the night, and knew nothing more till daylight.

“Now he must disclose how the Starlight and Split got along, coaxing the mackerel with fresh bait, just as General Pierce does the Soft Shells.  Split meets the schooner Spunk, Skipper Pluck, afore he begun to get to the line, outside of which he could fish according to law.  Split and he were old cronies, and they just heaves to, and has a talk about what’s best to be done.  ’Twarn’t long afore they had negotiated the plan, which, when carried out, they were to divide the spoils equal.  Seeing how the Britishers, every year, pay over a million pounds sterling for keeping open the fishing question, driving the fish out of the water with big man-o’-war ships and steamships, and making a deal of pleasant fun for a great many fine gentlemen who threaten to swallow a fisherman for taking a fish; and that the United States pay about one-fifth as much for the privilege of sending some of their big ships to help the Britishers play the genteel, while hoping that stupid diplomacy will long continue to give them the same Opportunity, Split and Pluck reckoned how they’d come a point over the Britishers.

“The great point was to steer clear of the big British steamer, Devastation.  Pluck said he seed her steamin’ away down to the northward t’other a’ternoon, and so it was agreed that Pluck, with the Pinkey Spunk, should run down in her track.  If he sighted her in the morning he was just to play her about some, until Split got the mackerel on board.  And so, instead of the Devastation going