UNCLE WILLIAM

I

“Yes, I’m shif’less. I’m gen’ally considered shif’less,” said William Benslow. He spoke in a tone of satisfaction, and hitched his trousers skilfully into place by their one suspender.

His companion shifted his easel a little, squinting across the harbor at the changing light. There was a mysterious green in the water that he failed to find in his color-box.

William Benslow watched him patiently. “Kind o’ ticklish business, ain’t it?” he said.

The artist admitted that it was.