acquainted with one another, youngster,' the captain said. 'This
fellow, whose tongue has just wagged, is Joe Murfrey, a famous
blackguard in his own particular line. Yon respectable flaxen
gentleman,' pointing to a villainous looking person with a greenish
skin, of flaxen hair, and an unsteady, treacherous eye, 'gives moral
tone to our little household. He, on occasion, devotes himself with
much ardour to religious exercises. For the sake of being familiar we
call him Jud Sykes.'

The hateful looking scoundrel bowed and said:

'I am happy to welcome you to our poor abode.' And as he drew near:
'Ah, so young and so fair, to stain his soul with the blood of a
fellow-creature! Oh, my poor young man, repentance, repentance with
us here in nature's sanctuary, where the grandeur of God's works,
without any of the disfigurement of man, is all that remains to you
now. I welcome you, my poor fallen son;' and he stretched out his
hand. But our hero simply gave the blasphemous vagabond a look of
scorn and turned away.

'There is one other, the fourth and last of the male members of our
humble dwelling, to whom let me also present you. This is a young
gentleman of a very meek and unobtrusive disposition. He never raises
his voice to a high pitch, or makes a noise when performing any
little job that requires skill. It would seem as if his good parents
were inspired in bestowing a name upon him. They called him Lifter.
We have slightly varied the name, took a small grammatical liberty
with it, so to speak. We call him The Lifter. Let me, Mr. Gray,
introduce you to The Lifter.' Roland bowed with the same air of
haughtiness and disgust. But now that he was among the unholy crew he