st kind of a man. And the
bosun--why, before I ever heard the name of this ship, I'd heard of her
bosun. He's a notorious brute."

"He's the kind of a brute I want to have around. He will do what I order
him."

"Did you order him to bring on this fight?"

"And if I did, what of it? Do I have to account to you for what I do on
my ship? That pump-man is dangerous, I tell you. Why, just before we
sailed, I was telephoning over to the office to find out how he happened
to be shipped, and a clerk--"

"The second clerk, was it?"

"What does it matter who it was? He said to watch out for him, too--that
he was the kind who knew it all. Wherever the office got him I don't
know. And if you know anybody in the office with a pull, you ought to
put it up to them, Mr. Noyes, when you go back. This pump-man, he's the
kind recognizes no authority."

"Why, I thought he was very respectful toward your officers. And he
seems to do his work on the jump, too, captain."

"He carries out orders, yes; but if he felt like it, he'd tell me to go
to hell as quick as he'd tell the bosun. I can see it in his eye."

"Don't you think he only wants to be treated with respect?"

"Treated with respect! Who do you think you're talkin' to--the cook? I
don't have to treat one of my crew with respect. I'm captain of my own
ship, do you hear?--captain of this ship, and I'll treat the crew as I
damn please."

"I guess you will, too; but don't swear at me, captain. I'm not one of
your crew."

Noyes descended to the chart-room deck. "I wish," he breathed, "that
that pump-man had never seen this ship. They'll kill him before the
day's over."

III

The after-rail of the chart-room deck looked almost directly down the
hatch whereon the fight was to take place. As Noyes was taking his
position by the rail he guessed that the bosun must have just said
something which pleased the crew, for most of them were still laughing
heartily.

Kieran, on a camp-stool, waited for the laughter to simmer down. He
fixed a mocking eye on the bosun. "And so you're a whale, eh? And you'll
learn me what a whale can do to little fishes? Well, let me tell you
something about a whale, son. A whale is a sure enough big creature, but
I never heard he was a fighting fish before. Now, if you knew more
about some things, you'd never called yourself a whale, but a thrasher.
There's the best fighting fish of them all--the thrasher. The thrasher's
the boy with the wallop. He