mad! I suppose the end of the world will be something like that;
and a man may have the heart to see it coming once and be done with
it--but to have to face it day after day--I don't blame anybody. I
was precious little better than the rest. Only--I was an officer
of that old coal-waggon, anyhow--"

"I quite understand," I conveyed that sincere assurance into his
ear. He was out of breath with whispering; I could hear him pant
slightly. It was all very simple. The same strung-up force which
had given twenty-four men a chance, at least, for their lives, had,
in a sort of recoil, crushed an unworthy mutinous existence.

But I had no leisure to weigh the merits of the matter--footsteps
in the saloon, a heavy knock. "There's enough wind to get under
way with, sir." Here was the call of a new claim upon my thoughts
and even upon my feelings.

"Turn the hands up," I cried through the door. "I'll be on deck
directly."

I was going out to make the acquaintance of my ship. Before I left
the cabin our eyes met--the eyes of the only two strangers on
board. I pointed to the recessed part where the little camp-stool
awaited him and laid my finger on my lips. He made a gesture--
somewhat vague--a little mysterious, accompanied by a faint smile,
as if of regret.

This is not the place to enlarge upon the sensations of a man who
feels for the first time a ship move under his feet to his own
independent word. In my case they were not unalloyed. I was not