manded the victim, turning a deaf ear to
two or three strangers who were cuddling him affectionately and pointing
out, in alluring whispers, numberless weak points in Joe's fleshly
armour.

"I'll 'it you agin if you come into a pub making a fool of me afore
people," replied the sensitive seaman, blushing hotly with the
recollection of the message.

"He told me to," said the carman, pointing to Flower, who was lurking in
the background.

The tall seaman turned fiercely and strode up to him, and then, to the
scandal of the bystanders and the dismay of Mr. William Green, gave
a loud yell and fled full speed up the road. Flower followed in
hot pursuit, and owing, perhaps, to the feeling of lightness before
mentioned, ran him down nearly a mile farther on, Mr. Green coming in a
good second.

"Keep orf," panted the seaman, backing into a doorway. "Keep--it--orf!"

"Don't be a fool, Joe," said the skipper.

"Keep orf," repeated the trembling seaman.

His fear was so great that Mr. Green, who had regarded him as a tower of
strength and courage, and had wormed himself into the tall seaman's good
graces by his open admiration of these qualities, stood appalled at his
idol's sudden lack of spirit.

"Don't be a fool, Joe," said the skipper, sharply; "can't you see it's
me?"

"I thought you was drownded," said the trembling seaman, still regarding
him suspiciously. "I thought you was a ghost."

"Feel that," said Flower, and gave him a blow in the ribs which almost
made him regret that his first impression was not the correct one.

"I'm satisfied, sir," he said, hastily.

"I was picked up and carried off to Riga: but for certain reasons I
needn't go into, I want my being alive kept a dead secret. You mustn't
breathe a word to anybody, d'ye understand? Not a word."

"Aye, aye, sir," said Joe; "you hear that, Will-yum?"

"Who the devil's this?" demanded the skipper, who had not bargained for
another confidant.

"It's the new 'and, sir," said Joe. "I'll be answerable for 'im."

Flower eyed the pair restlessly, but Mr. Green assured him with a
courtly bow that Mr. Smith's assurances might be relied upon. "He hoped
he was a gentleman," he said, feelingly.

"Some of us thought--I thought," said Joe, with a glance at the skipper,
"that the mate shoved you overboard."

"You always were a fool," commented the skipper.

"Yes, sir," said Joe, dutifully, and as they moved slowly back along the
road gave him the latest in