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ATHAN BEANS and William Lambert were two wild New England boys, Known from infancy to revel only in forbidden joys. Many a mother of Nantucket bristled when she heard them come, With a horrid skulking whistle, tempting her good lad from home. But for all maternal bristling little did they seem to care. And they loved each other dearly, did this good-for-nothing pair.

So they lived till eighteen summers found them in the same repute,— They had well-developed muscles, and loose characters to boot.