“And cleaning the winders,” said the thoughtful boatswain. Miss Jelks, who held to a firm and convenient belief in the likeness between promises and piecrusts, smiled cheerfully. “Unless I happen to be sent on an errand I sha’n’t put my nose outside the front gate,” she declared. “You’ve passed your word,” said Mr. Walters, slowly, “and that’s good enough for me; besides which I’ve got a certain party wot’s promised to keep ’is eye on you and let me know if you don’t keep to it.” “Eh?” said the startled Rosa. “Who is it?” “Never you mind who it is,” said Mr. Walters, judicially. “It’s better for you not to know, then you can’t dodge ’im. He can keep his eye on you, but there’s no necessity for you to keep your eye on ’im. I don’t mind wot _he_ does.” Miss Jelks maintained her temper with some difficulty; but the absolute necessity of discovering the identity of the person referred to by Mr. Walters, if she was to have any recreation at all during the next two years, helped her. “He’ll have an easy job of it,” she said, at last, with a toss of her head. “That’s just wot I told ’im,” said the boatswain. “He didn’t want to take the job on at first, but I p’inted out that if you behaved yourself and kept your promise he’d ’ave nothing to do; and likewise, if you didn’t, it was only right as ’ow I should know. Besides which I gave ’im a couple o’ carved peach stones and a war-club that used to belong to a Sandwich Islander, and took me pretty near a week to make.” Miss Jelks looked up at him sideways. “Be a bit of all right if he comes making up to me himself,” she said, with a giggle. “I wonder whether he’d tell you that?” “He won’t do that,” said the boatswain, with a confident smile. “He’s much too well-behaved, ’sides which he ain’t old enough.” Miss Jelks tore her arm away. “You’ve never been and set that old-fashioned little shrimp Bassett on to watch me?” she said, shrilly. “Never you mind who it is,” growled the discomfited boatswain. “It’s got nothing to do with you. All you’ve got to know is this: any time ’e sees you out—this party I’m talking of—he’s going to log it. He calls it keeping a dairy, but it comes to the same thing.” “I know what I call it,” said the offended maiden, “and if I catch that little horror spying on me he’ll remember it.” “He can’t spy on you if you ain’t out,” said the boatswain. “That’s wot I told ’im; and when I said as you’d promised he saw as ’ow it would be all right. I’m going to try and bring him ’ome a shark’s tooth.” “Goin’ to make it?” inquired Rosa, with a sniff. “And might I ask,” she inquired, as the amorous boatswain took her arm again, “might I ask who is going to watch you?” “Me?” said the boatswain, regarding her with honest amazement. “I don’t want no watching. Men don’t.” “In—deed!” said Miss Jelks, “and why not?” “They don’t like it,” said Mr. Walters, simply.