Winkle: the Eel-Man 153 



I've heard o' more'n one woman bein* 

 wracked by takin* up too quick with the 

 fust to come along, but who's Betsy Ann ?" 



" Come, old man," I said in an earnest 

 way, to command his attention; "I mean 

 just what I say. Didn't your folks ever tell 

 you about the sloop, Betsy Ann, that got 

 wrecked off the mouth of Barge Creek ?" 



" No ; nor yours neither, I guess. Why, 

 lad, there ain't room enough at the mouth o* 

 Barge for anythin' bigger'n a skiff to get 

 swamped. You've got things mixed, lad," 

 Winkle replied, with earnestness quite equal 

 to my own. In fa6t, my question was an 

 intimation that I had superior knowledge of 

 the creek's history, if not of the stream itself, 

 and this he was quite unwilling to allow. 

 After a lengthy pause, which I did not inter- 

 rupt, he continued, " You'll be laughed at 

 some time if you ain't kerful about keepin* 

 stones straight. This creek here ain't the 

 'Lantic Ocean, and shipwracks sound bet- 

 ter when you talk about the sea-shore. 

 Guess your Betsy Ann was only a hay-scow 

 and medder-grass the cargo," and Winkle 

 chuckled to himself at the thought of 

 having squelched me. 



