under him, an' I'll go back for the rest of the supplies."

None of us lads made any comment when Darius returned toward the
tavern; but that all hands were conscious of the same sense of shame
as had come over me, I understood by the expression on their faces.

When the old man joined us the second time he had in his arms the
larger part of a ham, some strips of cotton cloth, and a jug of water.

"How did you get all that stuff?" Jerry asked in surprise.

"Traded the mule. When I was drivin' the beast off it struck me that
he might be made to serve us a bit, so I drove a bargain."

"Did you give the people to understand that he was yours?"

"Not a bit of it, lad; I ain't tryin' that kind of business even when
I'm hungry. I told the truth; but claimed that the beast was under my
protection, an' I'd be willin' to leave him for the few things we
might need. It ain't certain but I'd got what I asked for without the
mule, though it was better to have a reg'lar trade made. Pitch into
the ham, and later, it may be we can get some bread."

We did not wait for the second invitation; but began chipping off bits
of the meat, eating greedily regardless of the fact that it was
uncooked, when I saw that Darius was making no effort toward getting
his share.

"Why don't you eat?" I asked as I gave my father a small handful of
the uninviting food.

"I'm the surgeon now, an' till this job is finished I reckon I can
contrive to get along without more in my mouth than a piece of
terbacco. It's mighty lucky I laid in a good supply before we left Pig
Point."

The true-hearted old sailor had provided us lads with a meal, and now
proposed to dress my father's wound before attending to his own wants,
which must have been greater than ours because he had performed more
work.

I resolved then and there, that however much against him might be
appearances, I would never believe him guilty of any mean act toward
his comrades, and in the future he should have the full half of
anything which might come into my possession.

Darius washed and bandaged father's wound; raised the bed of hay that
he might recline more comfortably; fastened the door in such a manner
that there would be no token on the outside of our occupancy, and not
until all this had been done did he give heed to his own necessities.

"We're not so bad off here as we might be," the old man said in a tone
of content as he whittled away at the small remnant of ham, while w