rning sailormen were well known in Sunwich, and two of the men
present had served under him. He went forward, the centre of an
attentive and rotating circle, and, sadly out of breath, was bestowed in
the forecastle and urged to listen to reason.

For the remainder of the morning he made no sign. The land was almost
out of sight, and he sat down quietly to consider his course of action
for the next few weeks. Dinner-time found him still engrossed in
thought, and the way in which he received an intimation from a
good-natured seaman that his dinner was getting cold showed that his
spirits were still unquelled.

By the time afternoon came he was faint with hunger, and, having
determined upon his course of action, he sent a fairly polite message to
Captain Hardy and asked for an interview.

The captain, who was resting from his labours in the chart-room, received
him with the same air of cold severity which had so endeared Captain
Nugent himself to his subordinates.

"You have come to explain your extraordinary behaviour of this morning, I
suppose?" he said, curtly.

"I have come to secure a berth aft," said Captain Nugent. "I will pay a
small deposit now, and you will, of course, have the balance as soon as
we get back. This is without prejudice to any action I may bring against
you later on."

"Oh, indeed," said the other, raising his eyebrows. "We don't take
passengers."

"I am here against my will," said Captain Nu-gent, "and I demand the
treatment due to my position."

"If I had treated you properly," said Captain Hardy, "I should have put
you in irons for knocking down my second officer. I know nothing about
you or your position. You're a stowaway, and you must do the best you
can in the circumstances."

"Are you going to give me a cabin?" demanded the other, menacingly.

"Certainly not," said Captain Hardy. "I have been making inquiries, and
I find that you have only yourself to thank for the position in which you
find yourself. I am sorry to be harsh with you."

"Harsh?" repeated the other, hardly able to believe his ears. "You--
harsh to me?"

"But it is for your own good," pursued Captain Hardy; "it is no pleasure
to me to punish you. I shall keep an eye on you while you're aboard, and
if I see that your conduct is improving you will find that I am not a
hard man to get on with."

Captain Nugent stared at him with his lips parted. Three times he
essayed to speak and failed; then he tur