"What is her name, Peggy?" inquired Mrs. Merryweather. "I must be entering the names in the Log."
"The Lovely Peggy, of course!" said Phil. "What else should it be?"
"It might be the Limavaddy!" said Gerald.
"Gerald, I wish you would tell me what you mean by 'Limavaddy,'" said Peggy. "It sounds like—I don't know what; tea-caddy, or something like that. Mrs. Merryweather, won't you tell me what it means?"
"It is a compliment he is paying you, Peggy," said her hostess, smiling. "Peg of Limavaddy is the charming heroine of a charming ballad of Thackeray's.
"'This I do declare,
Happy is the laddy
Who the heart can share
Of Peg of Limavaddy.
Married if she were,
Blest would be the daddy
Of the children fair
Of Peg of Limavaddy.
Beauty is not rare
In the land of Paddy,
Fair beyond compare
Is Peg of Limavaddy.'
That is not one of the prettiest stanzas, but it shows you why Gerald has nicknamed you."
"I say with Captain Corcoran," Gerald observed, pausing in the critical adjustment of a sail:
"'Though I'm anything but clever,
I could talk like that forever.'
As thus!