ere, my good fellow, I'm Peacock!" repeated Spring Chicken.

"The thunder you are! You can't be two people!"

"Sir!" responded Spring Chicken, with even greater dignity, "I do
not--_hic_--desire to argue with you. I am Peacock!"

The man laughed. "The Peacock I mean is a northern man----"

"_I'm_ a northern man," yelled the now irate Spring Chicken. "Curse
you, sir! what are my principles to you? I'll cut your ear off!" And it
was this peaceful proposition that attracted our attention, in time to
prevent any trouble with the ugly knife he drew from his back.

Spring Chicken had remained passive during the recital of the more
sober worldling. Sundry muttered oaths had sufficed him until it was
over, when he made the lucid explanation:

"Reas'l didl't--_hic_--dam decoy--bet ol red--ev'ry cent--_hic_!"

This the worldling translated and the murder was out. When we lost
sight of the boys on the Southern Republic, they had ordered wine. At
dinner they had more; and--glowing therewith, as they sat over their
cigars on the gallery--did not "stop their ears," but, on the contrary,
"listed to the voice of the charmer." When the stool pigeon once more
stood in the doorway, rattling his half dollars, they followed him into
the den of the tiger.

"Faro" went against them; "odd-and-even" was worse; _rouge-et-noir_
worst of all; and at night they were sober and dead broke, an
unpleasant but not infrequent phase of boat life.

"Didl't have aly wash to spout," remarked Spring Chicken, with his head
under his arm.

"Yes--we owed our wine bill," continued the middie, whose worldliness
decreased as he got sober, "and our trunk was in pawn to the nigger we
owed a quarter for taking care of it. So as soon as the boat touched, I
ran for'ard and jumped off, while he waited to keep the things in sight
till I came back."

"So he was in pawn, too, egad!" said the colonel.

"Thasso, ol' cock!" hiccoughed Spring Chicken.

"And when I got the money and we went up town, we met the cussed decoy
again, and we were fools enough to go again----"

"Williz molley--damniz--_hic_--eyes!" interpolated the other.

"----And we got broke again--and this fellow that hollowed Muggins
looked like the decoy, but he wasn't. That's the whole truth, Mr.
Styles."

"Mussput--_hic_--fi dollus on-jack?" remarked Spring Chicken. "See
yer, Styse--o'boy, damfattolman--Con'l is!" and he curled from the
lounge to the floor and slept peacefully.

"My young