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Stories of Ships and the Sea - Little Blue Book # 1169 by Jack London
page 52 of 55 (94%)
Japan responsible for those clothes. Good night."

He plunged through the doorway, scattering the astounded boatmen to
either side, and ran out on the pier. But they quickly recovered and ran
after him, shouting with glee at the new phase the situation had taken
on. It was a night long remembered among the water-folk of Yokohama
town. Straight to the end Alf ran, and, without pause, dived off cleanly
and neatly into the water. He struck out with a lusty, single-overhand
stroke till curiosity prompted him to halt for a moment. Out of the
darkness, from where the pier should be, voices were calling to him.

He turned on his back, floated, and listened.

"All right! All right!" he could distinguish from the babel. "No pay
now; pay bime by! Come back! Come back now; pay bime by!"

"No, thank you," he called back. "No pay at all. Good night."

Then he faced about in order to locate the _Annie Mine_. She was fully a
mile away, and in the darkness it was no easy task to get her bearings.
First, he settled upon a blaze of lights which he knew nothing but a
man-of-war could make. That must be the United States war-ship
_Lancaster_. Somewhere to the left and beyond should be the _Annie
Mine_. But to the left he made out three lights close together. That
could not be the schooner. For the moment he was confused. He rolled
over on his back and shut his eyes, striving to construct a mental
picture of the harbor as he had seen it in daytime. With a snort of
satisfaction he rolled back again. The three lights evidently belonged
to the big English tramp steamer. Therefore the schooner must lie
somewhere between the three lights and the _Lancaster_. He gazed long
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