continued in the manner of a set demonstration, "no sensible person
would risk being kicked out of the only berth between himself and
starvation just to get rid of a simple annoyance-a small worry. Would he
now?"

"Well, no," I conceded, restraining a desire to laugh at that something
mysteriously earnest in delivering the conclusions of his wisdom as
though it were the product of prohibited operations. "But that fellow
looks as if he were rather crazy. He must be."

"As to that, I believe everybody in the world is a little mad," he
announced quietly.

"You make no exceptions?" I inquired, just to hear his manner.

"Why! Kent says that even of you."

"Does he?" I retorted, extremely embittered all at once against my
former captain. "There's nothing of that in the written character from
him which I've got in my pocket. Has he given you any instances of my
lunacy?"

Captain Giles explained in a conciliating tone that it had been only
a friendly remark in reference to my abrupt leaving the ship for no
apparent reason.

I muttered grumpily: "Oh! leaving his ship," and mended my pace. He
kept up by my side in the deep gloom of the avenue as if it were
his conscientious duty to see me out of the colony as an undesirable
character. He panted a little, which was rather pathetic in a way. But