it
ever since you married her."

Crayme flew at Macdonald's throat; the younger man grappled the captain
and threw him into his bunk. The captain struggled and glared like a
tiger; Fred gasped between the special efforts dictated by
self-preservation:

"Sam, I--promised to--to see you--through--and I'm--going to--do it,
if--if I have to--break your neck."

The captain made one tremendous effort; Fred braced one foot against the
table, put a knee on the captain's breast, held both the captain's
wrists tightly, looked full into the captain's eyes, and breathed a
small prayer--for his own safety. For a moment or two, perhaps longer,
the captain strained violently, and then relaxed all effort, and cried:

"Fred, you've whipped me!"

"Nonsense! whip yourself," exclaimed Fred, "if you're going to stop
drinking."

The captain turned his face to the wall and said nothing; but he seemed
to be so persistently swallowing something that Fred suspected a
secreted bottle, and moved an investigation so suddenly that the captain
had not time in which to wipe his eyes.

"Hang it, Fred," said he, rather brokenly; "how _can_ what's babyish in
men whip a full-grown steamboat captain?"

"The same way that it whipped a full-grown woolen-mill manager once, I
suppose, old boy," said Macdonald.

"Is that so?" exclaimed the captain, astonishment getting so sudden an
advantage over shame that he turned over and looked his companion in the
face. "Why--how are you, Fred? I feel as if I was just being introduced.
Didn't anybody else help?"

"Yes," said Fred, "a woman; but--you've got a wife, too."

Crayme fell back on his pillow and sighed. "If I could only _think_
about her, Fred! But I can't; whisky's the only thing that comes into my
mind."

"Can't think about her!" exclaimed Fred; "why, are you acquainted with
her yet, I wonder? _I'll_ never forget the evening you were married."

"That _was_ jolly, wasn't it?" said Crayme. "I'll bet such sherry was
never opened west of the Alleghanies before or--"

"_Hang_ your sherry!" roared Fred; "it's your wife that I remember.
_You_ couldn't see her, of course, for you were standing alongside of
her; but the rest of us--well, I wished myself in your place, that's
all."

"Did you, though?" said Crayme, with a smile which seemed rather proud;
"well, I guess old Major Pike did too, for he drank to her about twenty
times that evening. Let's see; she wore a white moire antique, I think
they