-bottle having run dry, he was
severely tempted to have it replenished.

"Would it not be as well, skipper, to go aboard o' the _coper_, as she's
so near at hand!" said the mate, coming aft at the moment.

"Well, no, Peter; I think it would be as well to drop the _coper_
altogether. The abominable stuff the Dutchmen sell us is enough to
poison a shark. You know I'm not a teetotaller, but if I'm to be killed
at all, I'd rather be killed by good spirits than bad."

"Right you are," replied Jay, "but, you see, a lot of us are hard up for
baccy, and--"

"Of course, of course; the men must have baccy," interrupted the
skipper, "an' we don't need to buy their vile brandy unless we like.
Yes, get the boat out, Jay, an' we'll go."

Stephen Lockley was not the first man who has deceived himself as to his
motives. Tobacco was his excuse for visiting the floating den of
temptation, but a craving for strong drink was his real motive. This
craving had been created imperceptibly, and had been growing by degrees
for some years past, twining its octopus arms tighter and tighter round
his being, until the strong and hearty young fisherman was slowly but
surely becoming an abject slave, though he had fancied himself
heretofore as free as the breezes that whistled round his vessel. Now,
for the first time, Lockley began to have uncomfortable suspicions about
himself. Being naturally bold and candid, he turned sharply round, and,
as it were, faced _himself_ with the stern question, "Stephen, are you
sure that it's baccy that tempts you aboard of the _coper_? Are you
clear that schnapps has nothing to do with it?"

It is one of the characteristics of the slavery to which we refer, that
although strong-minded and resolute men put pointed questions of this
sort to themselves not unfrequently, they very seldom return answers to
them. Their once vigorous spirits, it would seem, are still capable of
an occasional heave and struggle--a sort of flash in the pan--but that
is all. The influence of the depraved appetite immediately weighs them
down, and they relapse into willing submission to the bondage. Lockley
had not returned an answer to his own question when the mate reported
that the boat was ready. Without a word he jumped into her, but kept
thinking to himself, "We'll only get baccy, an' I'll leave the _coper_
before the lads can do themselves any harm. I'll not taste a drop
myself--not a single drop o' their vile stuff."