thing for you."

"All right," I said, and after a little conversation relating to the
merits of various ships, the _Pirate_ in particular, I left and made my
way back to my lodgings.

I notified my landlord of my proposed voyage, and he was as gracious as
could be expected, at the same time expressing some wonderment at the
suddenness of my good fortune.

The more I thought of the matter, the more I felt like trying elsewhere
for a berth; but the time flew so rapidly that I found myself on the way
to the ship before my misgivings took too strong hold of me.

As I turned down the principal thoroughfare, feeling in a more humorous
frame of mind at the many possibilities open to me, I heard a shout. The
sound came from a side street, and I looked to see what it meant.
Through the door of a saloon a man shot head-long as if fired from a
gun. He struck in the gutter and staggered to his feet, where he was
immediately surrounded by the crowd of men that had followed him. This
promised much in the way of diversion, and I stopped to see what hidden
force lurked behind the door of the saloon. As I did so, a short fellow
with a great bushy head emerged, struggling with half a dozen men who
bore down upon him and tried to surround and seize him. The little man's
face was red from exertion and liquor, but when I caught a glimpse of
his great squat nose and huge mouth I had no difficulty in recognizing
my acquaintance on the _Pirate_. He backed rapidly away from his
antagonists, swinging a pair of arms each of which seemed to be fully
half a fathom long while every instant he let out a yell that sounded
like the bellow of a mad bull. Suddenly he turned and made off down the