lay into their hands
all the way down from the Baltic. His mate had contrived to baulk his
losing her during the previous half of the trip, but got sick of the
job and cleared when he found the chance. It was into the mate's shoes
that I stepped; and having no interest in the insurance policy, and
placing a certain value on my own hide, I continued at the same game.
We'd a beautiful chance four days out. We picked up a sou'easter off
St. Vincent, and the putty began to tumble out, and she got more of a
basket than ever. We'd only ten of a crew all told, and there wasn't a
man of them that had had a whole watch below since we got our
clearance. Fore t'gallant mast had gone like a carrot at the cap, and
mizzen-mast head was so sprung that she wouldn't bear the spanker. She
was squattering along under the two lower topsails only, and we amused
ourselves by betting when they'd split.

She was so infernally full of water that she steered like a haystack;
and as any one in the waist got half-drowned every minute, long spells
at the pumps weren't popular.

We couldn't make our easting a bit, and the old man kept saying that we
should never get through the Straits. That was by way of preparation,
but I understood what he was up to and said nothing.

At last he put it to me squarely. 'Twasn't good enough going on like
this. The barque would have to be "Lost at Sea"--luckily the boat down
yonder amidships was a thumping big one.

I said open-boat cruising in a December Atlantic wasn't an amusement I
hankered after, and then asked him bluntly how much he was going to
clear out of the job.

He said, "Nothing;" called a large squad of saints to witness that the
loss of his vessel would ruin him; and then, changing tack, promised
that I should make a good thing out of it.

But when I tried to pin him, it was no go. He wouldn't make me out a
cheque; he wouldn't put pen to paper in any way; he wouldn't even
pledge his owners for a figure; and I damned him for a slippery
Maccaroni, and swore I'd drive his old tramp in between Genoa pierheads
just to square up his meanness. He daren't knife me, because the crew
would have understood why, and raised a wasp's nest; and he had to play
the sailor, because I promised him if he piled her up anywhere I'd go
to the nearest Italian consul and report him; but I'll give the man
credit for keeping me in blacker Hades during the rest of that crawl
across than I ever knew existed before. Howeve