and it will, of course, prevent him from bestowing any further favours
on you."

"I didn't do it. I'd sooner have had my right hand cut off than have
done it," cried Jim. "Let me go ashore, sir, and I'll try to gain my
daily bread as I best can. I can't bear to stay aboard here to be
called a thief; though Peter Trawl knows I didn't take the sugar; he'd
never believe that of me; and the mate doesn't, and Andrews himself
doesn't."

"I am sorry for thee, lad. Thou must prove thine innocence," said the
captain, turning away.

Poor Jim was very unhappy. Though both he and I were convinced that one
of the men for spite had put the sugar in his chest, we could not fix on
the guilty person. I did my best to comfort him. He talked of running
from the ship, but I persuaded him not to think more of doing so foolish
a thing.

"Stay, and your innocence will appear in due time," I said.

As we went about the deck we heard Grimes and others whispering, "Birds
of a feather flock together."

They bullied Jim and me worse than ever, and took every occasion to call
him a young thief, and other bad names besides. They saw how it vexed
him, and that made them abuse him worse than before. The day after this
we sailed. Poor Jim declared that if he could not clear himself he
would never show his face in Portsmouth. I was sure that Andrews and
the other good men did not believe him to be guilty, but they could not
prove his innocence; and, as he said, the others would take care to
blabber about him, and, worst of all, Mr Gray would think him a thief.

An easterly breeze carried us clear of the harbour, but the wind then
shifted to the southward, and then to the south-west, being very light,
so that after three days we had not lost sight of the coast of Norway.
There seemed every probability of our having a long passage. Some of
the men said it was all owing to the black cat, and Grimes declared that
we must expect ill-luck with such a psalm-singing Methodist old skipper
as we had. Even Andrews prognosticated evil, but his idea was that it
would be brought about by an old woman he had seen on shore, said by
everyone to be a powerful witch. As, however, according to Andrews, she
had the power of raising storms, and we had only to complain of calms
and baffling winds, I could not see that she had had any influence over
us.

At last we got so far to the westward that we lost sight of the coast of
Norway, but had not made g