"Under these accumulated misfortunes Josiah had sought consolation in
drink, and had become a hopeless sot. He felt his degradation keenly,
and wept copiously. He said he thought that in a cheerful place, such as
a bar, he might have been strong and brave; but that there was something
about the everlasting smell of damp clothes and suds, that seemed to sap
his manhood.

"I asked him what the captain had said to it all. He burst into fresh
tears, and replied that the captain was no more. That, he added,
reminded him of what he had come about. The good-hearted old fellow had
bequeathed him five thousand dollars. He wanted my advice as to how to
invest it.

"My first impulse was to kill him on the spot. I wish now that I had. I
restrained myself, however, and offered him the alternative of being
thrown from the window or of leaving by the door without another word.

"He answered that he was quite prepared to go by the window if I would
first tell him whether to put his money in the Terra del Fuego Nitrate
Company, Limited, or in the Union Pacific Bank. Life had no further
interest for him. All he cared for was to feel that this little nest-egg
was safely laid by for the benefit of his beloved ones after he was gone.

"He pressed me to tell him what I thought of nitrates. I replied that I
declined to say anything whatever on the subject. He assumed from my
answer that I did not think much of nitrates, and announced his intention
of investing the money, in consequence, in the Union Pacific Bank.

"I told him by all means to do so, if he liked.