keep him
in dat heavy box we see him carry aboard, and he don' have to make
gol' with it--he can make diamon's--_diamon's_--he say it too
easy to fill dat box plum full of diamon's."

They gesticulated and exclaimed and breathed hard, full of the marvel
of such a thought. Then abruptly the clamour died to nothing. I felt
six eyes bent on me, six unwinking eyes moving restless in motionless
figures, suspicious, deadly as cobras----

Up to now my standing with the men had been well enough. Now they drew
frankly apart. One of the most significant indications of this was
the increased respect they paid my office. It was as though by prompt
obedience, instant deference, and the emphasising of ship's etiquette
they intended to draw sharply the line between themselves and me.
There was much whispering apart, many private talks and consultations
in which I had no part. Ordinarily they talked freely enough before
me. Even the reading during the dog watch was intermitted--at least
it was on such days as I happened to be in the watch below. But twice
I caught the Nigger and Handy Solomon consulting together over the
volume on alchemy.

I was in two minds whether to report the whole matter to Captain
Selover. The only thing that restrained me was the vagueness of the
intention, and the fact that the afterguard was armed, and was four
to the crew's five. An incident, however, decided me. One evening I
was awakened by a sound of violent voices. Captain Selover occasionally
juggled the watches for variety's sake, and I now had Handy Solomon
and Perdosa. The Nigger, being cook, stood no watch.

"You drunken Greaser swab!" snarled Handy Solomon. "You misbegotten
son of a Yaqui! I'll learn you to step on a seaman's foot, and you
can kiss the book on that! I'll cut your heart out and feed it to the
sharks!"

"Potha!" sneered Perdosa. "You cut heem you finger wid your knife."

They wrangled. At first I thought the quarrel genuine, but after a
moment or so I could not avoid a sort of reminiscent impression of
the cheap melodrama. It seemed incredible, but soon I could not dodge
the conclusion that it was a made-up quarrel designed to impress me.

Why should they desire to do so? I had to give it up, but the fact
itself was obvious enough. I laughed to see them. The affair did not
come to blows, but it did come to black looks on meeting, muttered
oaths, growls of enmity every time they happened to pass each other
on the deck. Perdos