re leaving with the pilot, gave the crew his benediction,
and slipped into the cobble which waited to convey them ashore. The
pilot, observing that the flag was being dipped, broke the silence by
remarking:

"She's off once more, sir, and they're dipping the blood and guts of
old England to say goodbye to us."

The owner was indignant, and smartly retorted:

"I wish you to understand, pilot, that I will not have the British flag
insulted in my presence. When you speak of that flag, sir, you must
speak of it with reverence, and remember that it has never been lowered
to an enemy."

The pilot, who had been a sailor and captain, was amazed at the owner's
ignorance in not knowing that seamen were accustomed to speak of the
flag in this way. Had he been a foreigner who dared to address him in a
similar tone of ill-nature, he would have thrown him overboard. As it
was, he merely remarked in an ironic accent that Mr Hobkirk "had a lot
to learn yet." By the time the cobble got ashore, the fine clipper brig
was nearly hull down.

Macgregor had prevailed upon the same crew to go with him again, and
the owner's back was scarcely turned before he commenced to drink and
ill-use the poor half-witted Ralph who was in his watch. There does not
appear to have been any reason for this except that of alcoholic
viciousness. The dark horror of secret drinking quickly developed into
hideous proportions; it gripped him like a vice; his bleary eyes and
wild fits of delirium foreshadowed inevitable collapse. He raved about
things that were supposed to be whispered in his ears by unholy voices;
he saw wild beasts of the most ferocious character, which were not
there, and imagined them grinding their teeth in anxiety to devour him;
he alternately yelled and whispered that rats, weasels and wild cats
were crawling over his body and gnawing at his vitals. In the paroxysm
of frenzy he lay down on the cabin floor and tried to bury his head
from the sight of the demons that he imagined pursued him. He cried out
in pitiful accents to be shielded from them, and in the effort lost
complete capacity for coherent speech. The crew were thrown into a
condition of chilly fear. A consultation was held, and it was decided
to have him carefully watched and occasional doses of brandy
administered. For three days a fine westerly breeze had raced over the
dappled sea. It had varied in strength, and nearly three hundred miles
had been covered when the wind die