"Well, help yourself, and put the bottle on the table," said the old lady, somewhat mollified. "Ah, that was among the spoils of the brave, in the good old times when men was men!" she added, in a half-melancholy tone. She was accustomed to think and speak of her deceased husband as though he had been the boldest of buccaneers, the Captain Kyd of the Dorsetshire coast; whereas he, in his lifetime, was a worthy man in a Welsh wig, who never went to sea, or was present at the "running" of a keg. "And so the Captain's still here," pursued Hallibut; "living in the same house, and doing much the same as usual, I suppose?" "Jist exactly the same," replied Mr. Jupp. "Wandering about the village, molloncholly-like, and cussin' all creation." "Mr. Jupp," broke in his better-half, "reck'lect where you are, if you please, and keep your profane swearin' to yourself." "I wonder he don't go away," suggested Hallibut. "He can't," said Mrs. Jupp solemnly. "What! do you mean to say he's been running in debt here in Beachborough, or over in Bedminster?" "He don't owe a brass farthing in either place," asserted Mrs. Powler; "if anybody ought to know, I ought;" and to do her justice she ought, for no one heard scandal sooner, or disseminated it more readily. "Perhaps he hadn't the chance," said Mr. Jupp, stretching out his hand towards the tumbler. "Mr. Jupp," said his wife, "what cause have you to say that? Was you ever kept waiting for the money for the meal or malt account? Is the rent paid regular for the bit of pastureland for Miss Annette's cow? Well, then, reck'lect where you are, if you please, and who you're speaking of." "Well, but if he hates the place and cusses--I mean, does what Jupp said he did just now--what does he stop here for? Why don't he go away? He must have some reason." "Of course he has, Mr. Hallibut," said Mrs. Jupp, with an air of dignity. "Got the name all right this time, Mrs. Jupp; here's your health," said the jolly man, sipping his tumbler. "Well, what's the reason?" "It's because of Miss Annette--she that we was speaking of just now." "Oh, ah!" said Mr. Hallibut; "she's his daughter, isn't she?" "Niece," said Mrs. Jupp. "Oh!" said Mr. Hallibut doubtfully. "You and I have seen the world, Hallibut," broke in Mr. Jupp, who had been paying his attentions to the French brandy. "We've heard of nieces before--priests' nieces and such-like, who----" "Mr. Jupp, _will_ you reck'lect where you are, _if_ you please?--what I was goin' to say when thus interrupted, Mr. Hallibut, was, that it's on account of his niece Miss Annette that Captain Derinzy remains in this place. She's a dreadful in-val-lid, is Miss Annette, and this Dorsetsheer air suits her better than any other part of England. As to her not bein' his niece----"