n.'

"'Sure you had,' he says, grinnin'. 'But you weren't shrewd enough to
grasp the situation and do it. Now the deal's closed and it's too late.'

"He went on talkin' about 'pools' and deals' and such. How prices of
this stock and that was shoved up a-purpose till a lot of folks had
put their money in it and then was smashed flat so's all hands but the
'poolers' would be what he called 'squeezed out,' and the gang would get
their cash. That was legitimate, too--'high finance,' he said.

"'But how about the poor folks that had their savin's in them stocks,'
I asks, 'and don't know high financin'? Where's the law of supply and
demand come in for them?'

"He laughed. 'They supply the suckers and the demand for money,' says
he.

"By eleven we was well out toward the fishin' grounds. 'Twas the bad
season now; the big fish had struck off still further and there wa'n't
another boat in sight. The land was just a yeller and green smooch along
the sky line and the waves was runnin' bigger. The Shootin' Star was
seaworthy, though, and I wa'n't worried about her. The only thing that
troubled me was the fog, and that was pilin' up to wind'ard. I'd called
Fatty's attention to it when we fust started, but he said he didn't care
a red for fog. Well, I didn't much care nuther, for we had a compass
aboard and the engine was runnin' fine. What wind there was was blowin'
offshore.

"And then, all to once, the engine STOPPED runnin'. I give the wheel a
whirl, but she only coughed, consumptive-like, and quit again. I went
for'ard to inspect, and, if you'll believe it, there wa'n't a drop of
gasoline left in the tank. The spare cans had ought to have been full,
and they was--but 'twas water they was filled with.

"'Is THIS the way you have your boat ready for me?' I remarks,
sarcastic.

"'That--that man of mine told me he had everything filled,' he stammers,
lookin' scart.

"'Yes,' says I, 'and I heard him hint likewise that he was goin' to make
you sorry. I guess he's done it.'

"Well, sir! the brimstone names that Fatty called that man was somethin'
surprisin' to hear. When he'd used up all he had in stock he invented
new ones. When the praise service was over he turns to me and says: 'But
what are we goin' to do?'

"'Do?' says I. 'That's easy. We're goin' to drift.'

"And that's what we done. I tried to anchor, but we wa'n't over the
ledge and the iron wouldn't reach bottom by a mile, more or less. I
rigged up a sail out