"Oh, Susannah! don't you cry for me!
I'm going to California with my wash-bowl on my knee!"
the whole party gathered around him and listened in breathless wonder. At length the Professor remarked,—
"What a pity it is that Susannah is not now present!"
"Do you think she would stop her crying?" said Toney.
"I imagine she would," said the Professor. "Unless the young lady's perception of the ludicrous is very obtuse, I cannot help thinking that the musical invocation of Hercules would have the desired effect."
"Will that big fellow never cease his bellowing?" asked the midshipman.
"Not until he has sung the last verse," said Tom Seddon; "and the song is longer than the ninety-seventh selection of Psalms as versified by Sternhold and Hopkins."
"He has already finished a multitude of staves," said Toney.
"Enough to make himself a butt," said the Professor.