I heard the muttering chant of O'Sullivan, and
peeped in. There he lay, lashed fast on his back in the lower bunk,
rolling his eyes and raving. In the top bunk, directly above, lay
Charles Davis, calmly smoking a pipe. I looked for the marlin-spike.
There it was, ready to hand, on the bedding beside him.

"It's hell, ain't it, sir?" was his greeting. "And how am I goin' to get
any sleep with that baboon chattering away there. He never lets up--keeps
his chin-music goin' right along when he's asleep, only worse. The way
he grits his teeth is something awful. Now I leave it to you, sir, is it
right to put a crazy like that in with a sick man? And I am a sick man."

While he talked the massive form of Mr. Pike loomed beside me and halted
just out of sight of the man in the bunk. And the man talked on.

"By rights, I oughta have that lower bunk. It hurts me to crawl up here.
It's inhumanity, that's what it is, and sailors at sea are better
protected by the law than they used to be. And I'll have you for a
witness to this before the court when we get to Seattle."

Mr. Pike stepped into the doorway.

"Shut up, you damned sea-lawyer, you," he snarled. "Haven't you played a
dirty trick enough comin' on board this ship in your condition? And if I
have anything more out of you . . . "

Mr. Pike was so angry that he could not complete the threat. After
spluttering for a moment he made a fresh attempt.

"You . . . you . . . well, you annoy me, that's what you do."

"I know the law, sir," Davis answered promptly. "I worked full able
seaman on this here ship. All hands can testify to that. I was aloft
from the start. Yes, sir, and up to my neck in salt water day and night.
And you had me below trimmin' coal. I did full duty and more, until this
sickness got me--"

"You were petrified and rotten before you ever saw this ship," Mr. Pike
broke in.

"The court'll decide that, sir," replied the imperturbable Davis.

"And if you go to shoutin' off your sea-lawyer mouth," Mr. Pike
continued, "I'll jerk you out of that and show you what real work is."

"An' lay the owners open for lovely damages when we get in," Davis
sneered.

"Not if I bury you before we get in," was the mate's quick, grim retort.
"And let me tell you, Davis, you ain't the first sea-lawyer I've dropped
over the side with a sack of coal to his feet."

Mr. Pike turned, with a final "Damned sea-lawyer!" and started along the
deck. I was wal