ies, and went away at a killing pace. But I had stopped his
"earths" all round the cabin, and after a ten minutes' burst in the
open, he settled down, evidently feeling that I meant business. Though
not his equal in pace, I hoped to find myself a better stayer. He caught
my eye once, when he was jumping over my sponge with a view to getting
into some very difficult country under my bunk. The expression in it
evidently alarmed him, and he redoubled his efforts. Twice I had made
play with the shoe. Once I nearly landed him upon the side of his head;
the other time I broke a rather valuable curiosity. Finally, the
cockroach began to fly; then, for a while, he had matters his own way. I
struck out to the right and left with a view to winging him, but he
certainly showed great ability in the air, and dodged under the shoe and
over it, and then hit me in the face, and was out again before I could
get a blow back. Now, from being a sort of fox-hunt, the affair had
degenerated into a prize-fight; and it seemed utterly impossible to say
who would win. On the one side were ranged weight and science and a
shoe; on the other, wings and astounding agility and utter
unscrupulosity. After the first round, I heard people in adjacent cabins
waking up and murmuring unkind things--not about the cockroach, but
concerning me. Then I called "Time," and walked out to the centre of the
room. The cockroach did not come. I looked round and saw him sitting in
my open port, twirling his moustache and gazing out upon the sea. I said
"Time" again, but he paid no attention; so I stole upon him, with the
stealth of a wild Indian, and smote him behind. This action was
unsportsmanlike, but conclusive. He shot out into the ocean, where
probably some not over-particular tropic fish attempted to digest him
and failed.

[Illustration: "SMOTE HIM BEHIND."]

As the "Rhine" approached Dominica, the Fourth Officer, according to his
pleasant custom, approached me, armed with facts. On this occasion,
however, I had taken measures to be before him. I had read up the island
rather carefully, and, knowing that Columbus was always a safe card, had
acquired some information on the subject of that great navigator also.
So I waited with quiet confidence for the Fourth Officer to start. He
said:

"Here we are at Dominica--an interesting and beautiful spot."

"True," I replied, "Christopher Columbus discovered the place in 1493."

The Fourth Officer looked startled a