uddenly earnest. "Peter,
I'm going for good. That is, I'm going to quit McLagan's, and get out.
You see, I just wanted to have a look at her shack--for the last
time. I--I don't feel I can go without that. She won't see me,
and----"

"Sort of final look round before you quit the--sinking ship, eh?"

The quiet seriousness of the big man's tone sounded keenly incisive in
the stillness of the dark night. Jim started, and hot blood mounted to
his head. He had been through so much that day that his nerves were
still on edge.

"What d'ye mean?" he demanded sharply. "Who's deserting a sinking
ship--where's the sinking ship?"

Peter pointed back at Eve's home.

"There," he said.

But Jim shook his head.

"I've drunk a lot to-day. Maybe my head's not clear. Maybe----"

Peter's voice broke in.

"It doesn't need much clearness to understand, if you know all the
facts. I'm not going to tell all I've seen and heard to-day either.
But I'm going to say a few words to you, Jim, because I know you and
like you, and because, in spite of a few cranks in your head, you're a
man. Just now you're feeling reckless. Nothing much matters to you.
You're telling yourself that there's no particular reason keeping
straight. You have no interest, and when the end comes you'll just
shut out your lights and--well, there's nothing more to it. That's how
you're thinking."

"And what's my thoughts to do with quitting a sinking ship?" Jim asked
a trifle impatiently. "I don't deny you're likely right. I confess I
don't see that there's much incentive to--well, to stick to a straight
and narrow course. I'll certainly strike a gait of my own, and I
don't know that it'll be a slow one. It'll be honest though. It'll be
honest as far as the laws of man go. As for the other laws, well,
they're for my personal consideration as far as my life is concerned.
But this sinking ship. I'd like to know."

"You love Eve?" Peter abruptly demanded.

"For G----'s sake, what are you driving at?"

"You love her?" Peter's demand would admit of no avoidance.

"Better than my life."

Jim's answer was deep down in his voice; his whole soul was in his
reply.

"Then don't quit McLagan's, boy," Peter went on earnestly. "Don't quit
Barnriff. Jim, boy, you can't have her, but you can help her to
happiness by standing by. I'm going to stand by, too, for she's going
to need all the help we can both give her."

"But how can I 'stand by' with Will--her husband?"