right now in this room, and my blankets are wet, and I'm a sick man,
as any man can tell that's got a nose."

"If you'd been decent to the mate you might have got decent treatment
in return," I said.

"Huh!" he sneered. "You needn't think you can lose me, sir. I can
grow fat on this sort of stuff. Why, sir, when I think of the court
doin's in Seattle I just couldn't die. An' if you'll listen to me,
sir, you'll cover the steward's money. You can't lose. I'm advisin'
you, sir, because you're a sort of decent sort. Anybody that bets on
my going over the side is a sure loser."

"How could you dare ship on a voyage like this in your condition?" I
demanded.

"Condition?" he queried with a fine assumption of innocence. "Why,
that is why I did ship. I was in tiptop shape when I sailed. All
this come out on me afterward. You remember seem' me aloft, an' up
to my neck in water. And I trimmed coal below, too. A sick man
couldn't do it. And remember, sir, you'll have to testify to how I
did my duty at the beginning before I took down."

"I'll bet with you myself if you think I'm goin' to die," he called
after me.

Already the sailors show marks of the hardship they are enduring. It
is surprising, in so short a time, how lean their faces have grown,
how lined and seamed. They must dry their underclothing with their
body heat. Their outer garments, under their oilskins, are soggy.