ntricacies, but no one else can hope to. I'm stealing now when I
take these matches."

"I will follow your example," said Holgate, and did so.

"I'm not sure that that's not perks," said little Pye with his
quizzical glance.

"Well, is it perks if I buy a picture from you for ten bob which I know
to be worth L1,000?" inquired Holgate.

Pye considered. "I give it up," he said.

"Which only proves," said I, continuing my mood, "that it takes a good
capercutter to move in and out moral sanctions."

"I don't believe I know what that means quite," said Holgate, giving me
the full charge of his steady eyes.

I stooped and warmed my fingers, for the cold blast of the streets was
forbidding. "Well, the most famous people have been those who have
successfully performed the egg dance between commandments," I remarked.

"I suppose they have," said Holgate thoughtfully.

I rose abruptly, and in the glass above the mantelpiece the two figures
behind me came into vision. The little clerk's eyebrows were elevated
in a question, and the men faced each other. Holgate's lips were pursed
and he nodded. I saw this in the flash of rising, and then I turned
about.

"I shall get a wigging," said Pye, seizing his umbrella.

We walked out and I bade them good-bye after a civil exchange of
amenities; then I took an omnibus down Chancery Lane and made for the
Underground. As I travelled back, my thoughts circled about the
situation; I was glad to have made the acquaintance of one or more of
my shipmates, if, of course, I was to join the company. Holgate puzzled
me for a third officer, until I reflected that in these days every
officer had a master's licence. Yet that this man should not by the
force of his evident individuality take higher rank in life surprised
me. What, however, was of most immediate concern to me was the extreme
friendliness of my two companions. Lane was well enough in his way, and
certainly had shown his goodwill; but Holgate was more than this to a
lonely man with an appetite for society. Holgate was intelligent.

I found a few patients waiting, and disposed of them by eight o'clock,
after which I strolled down to the docks, in spite of the drizzle. I
have said that I am interested in my fellows, and, in addition, I
confess to a certain forethought. I walked down to the docks with the
deliberate intention of acquiring some information about the _Sea
Queen_, if that were possible. I knew the name of the owner,