Comethup took his usual place at table, at the opposite end to his aunt, and had the captain at his right hand. The boy, young as he was, could not but remark to himself what an incongruous figure the captain cut in that assembly; his quiet, delicate, old-world face and manner contrasted so strongly with the faces about him; his dress, perfectly neat though it was, seemed to belong to a bygone day when compared with theirs. Once or twice, too, when things were said and stories told which Comethup did not understand, the captain was the only one who did not laugh; indeed, he stiffened a little in his chair, and once laid his hand upon Comethup's, where it rested on the table, and pressed it slightly, as though in sympathy. Miss Charlotte Carlaw had been in a strange mood all the evening, had told her wildest stories, had laughed more loudly than any of her guests. After the men had lighted their cigars and cigarettes, and some of the women had begun also to smoke, she suddenly clapped her hands and cried out: "Where's Prince Charming?--Come here, you dog, I want you." The captain, watching her after the boy had run to her, saw her with her arm about him, whispering something to him, insisting upon something; the child was hanging back and blushing, and pleading with her, also in a whisper. At last he laughed, and appeared to consent. She clasped her hands again, and cried for silence. "Silence for Prince Charming! Boys and girls, you have not yet learned all our prince's accomplishments. He can play like a born gambler; he can whisper a pretty speech in a lady's ear; now you shall hear him sing. Oh, you need not be afraid; he has lessons daily from one of the best masters.--Come, up with you, Comethup!" One of the men caught him up and put him on the table just in front of his aunt; she held one of his legs, so that he might not overbalance. One of the ladies ran to the piano and played a few notes, and then Comethup, very timidly at first, but more boldly as he went on, sang his song. It was a foolish thing for a child to sing under any circumstances--a riotous chant of drinking, and women's eyes, and red lips, and what not; but it had a rousing refrain, and after he had sung it once, they all stood up, shouting, with their glasses in their hands, and roared it all over again. Comethup, for his part, seemed to see none of them; he sang with all his might and main and put his heart into the wretched ditty, and he sang to the captain. And the captain sat still, with his head resting on his hand, and watched him. The uproar as he finished was deafening, and as they trooped into the drawing room two of the men carried him shoulder-high between them, and some one started to sing, "For he's a jolly good fellow." It was taken up by them all except, perhaps, by the captain, who walked quietly along in the rear.