"The tugboat skipper told me when he came on board for your
letters, sir," explained the young man. "He expects to take her up
the river the day after to-morrow."

After thus overwhelming us with the extent of his information he
slipped out of the cabin. The mate observed regretfully that he
"could not account for that young fellow's whims." What prevented
him telling us all about it at once, he wanted to know.

I detained him as he was making a move. For the last two days the
crew had had plenty of hard work, and the night before they had
very little sleep. I felt painfully that I--a stranger--was doing
something unusual when I directed him to let all hands turn in
without setting an anchor-watch. I proposed to keep on deck myself
till one o'clock or thereabouts. I would get the second mate to
relieve me at that hour.

"He will turn out the cook and the steward at four," I concluded,
"and then give you a call. Of course at the slightest sign of any
sort of wind we'll have the hands up and make a start at once."

He concealed his astonishment. "Very well, sir." Outside the
cuddy he put his head in the second mate's door to inform him of my
unheard-of caprice to take a five hours' anchor-watch on myself. I
heard the other raise his voice incredulously--"What? The captain
himself?" Then a few more murmurs, a door closed, then another. A
few moments later I went on deck.

My strangeness, which had made me sleepless, had prompted that
unconventional arrangement, as if I had expected in those solitary