The Pursuit of the House-Boat | Page 3

quietly, but with very evident interest,
listening to the discussion. He was a tall and excessively slender shade,
"like a spirt of steam out of a teapot," as Johnson put it afterwards, so
slight he seemed. "I have not the honor of being a member of this
association," the stranger continued, "but, like all well-ordered shades, I
aspire to the distinction, and I hold myself and my talents at the
disposal of this club. I fancy it will not take us long to establish our
initial point, which is that the gross person who has so foully
appropriated your property to his own base uses does not contemplate
removing it from its keel and placing it somewhere inland. All the
evidence in hand points to a radically different conclusion, which is my

sole reason for doubting the value of that conclusion. Captain Kidd is a
seafarer by instinct, not a landsman. The House-boat is not a house, but
a boat; therefore the place to look for it is not, as Dr. Johnson so well
says, in the Sahara Desert, or on the Alps, or in the State of Ohio, but
upon the high sea, or upon the waterfront of some one of the world's
great cities."
[Illustration: "'DR. JOHNSON'S POINT IS WELL TAKEN'"]
"And what, then, would be your plan?" asked Sir Walter, impressed by
the stranger's manner as well as by the very manifest reason in all that
he had said.
"The chartering of a suitable vessel, fully armed and equipped for the
purpose of pursuit. Ascertain whither the House-boat has sailed, for
what port, and start at once. Have you a model of the House-boat
within reach?" returned the stranger.
"I think not; we have the architect's plans, however," said the chairman.
"We had, Mr. Chairman," said Demosthenes, who was secretary of the
House Committee, rising, "but they are gone with the House-boat itself.
They were kept in the safe in the hold."
A look of annoyance came into the face of the stranger.
"That's too bad," he said. "It was a most important part of my plan that
we should know about how fast the House-boat was."
"Humph!" ejaculated Socrates, with ill-concealed sarcasm. "If you'll
take Xanthippe's word for it, the House-boat was the fastest yacht
afloat."
"I refer to the matter of speed in sailing," returned the stranger, quietly.
"The question of its ethical speed has nothing to do with it."
"The designer of the craft is here," said Sir Walter, fixing his eyes upon
Sir Christopher Wren. "It is possible that he may be of assistance in

settling that point."
"What has all this got to do with the question, anyhow, Mr. Chairman?"
asked Solomon, rising impatiently and addressing Sir Walter. "We
aren't preparing for a yacht-race that I know of. Nobody's after a cup, or
a championship of any kind. What we do want is to get our wives back.
The Captain hasn't taken more than half of mine along with him, but I
am interested none the less. The Queen of Sheba is on board, and I am
somewhat interested in her fate. So I ask you what earthly or unearthly
use there is in discussing this question of speed in the House-boat. It
strikes me as a woful waste of time, and rather unprecedented too, that
we should suspend all rules and listen to the talk of an entire stranger."
[Illustration: "'WHAT HAS ALL THIS GOT TO DO WITH THE
QUESTION?'"]
"I do not venture to doubt the wisdom of Solomon," said Johnson,
dryly, "but I must say that the gentleman's remarks rather interest me."
"Of course they do," ejaculated Solomon. "He agreed with you. That
ought to make him interesting to everybody. Freaks usually are."
"That is not the reason at all," retorted Dr. Johnson. "Cold water agrees
with me, but it doesn't interest me. What I do think, however, is that our
unknown friend seems to have a grasp on the situation by which we are
confronted, and he's going at the matter in hand in a very
comprehensive fashion. I move, therefore, that Solomon be laid on the
table, and that the privileges of the--ah--of the wharf be extended
indefinitely to our friend on the string-piece."
The motion, having been seconded, was duly carried, and the stranger
resumed.
"I will explain for the benefit of his Majesty King Solomon, whose
wisdom I have always admired, and whose endurance as the husband of
three hundred wives has filled me with wonder," he said, "that before
starting in pursuit of the stolen vessel we must select a craft of some
sort for the purpose, and that in selecting the pursuer it is quite essential

that we should choose a vessel of greater speed than the one we desire
to overtake. It would hardly be