"And suppose she were?" said the Captain. "To the philosophic eye,
there would be nothing new in our position. Life, my old shipmate,
life, at any moment and in any view, is as dangerous as a sinking
ship; and yet it is man's handsome fashion to carry umbrellas, to
wear indiarubber over-shoes, to begin vast works, and to conduct
himself in every way as if he might hope to be eternal. And for my
own poor part I should despise the man who, even on board a sinking
ship, should omit to take a pill or to wind up his watch. That, my
friend, would not be the human attitude."

"I beg pardon, sir," said Mr. Spoker. "But what is precisely the
difference between shaving in a sinking ship and smoking in a
powder magazine?"

"Or doing anything at all in any conceivable circumstances?" cried
the Captain. "Perfectly conclusive; give me a cigar!"

Two minutes afterwards the ship blew up with a glorious detonation.




III - THE TWO MATCHES.


ONE day there was a traveller in the woods in California, in the
dry season, when the Trades were blowing strong. He had ridden a
long way, and he was tired and hungry, and dismounted from his
horse to smoke a pipe. But when he felt in his pocket he found but