easy win."

"Did I look so darn foolish?"

Bull's eyes were smiling, and Nancy laughed again.

"Just about as foolish as that fellow with the Rye whisky you were
talking about."

The man settled himself comfortably.

"That's tough. And I guess I was doing my best, too. Say," he went on
with a laugh, "just look at those flapping sea-gulls, or whatever they
are out there. Makes you wonder to see 'em racing along over this fool
waste of water. Look at 'em fighting, struggling, and using up a whole
heap of good energy to keep level with this old tub. You know they've
only to turn away westward to find land and shelter where they could
build nests and make things mighty comfortable for themselves. I don't
get it. You know it seems to me Nature got in a bad muss handing out
ordinary sense. I'd say She never heard of a card index. Maybe Her
bookkeeper was a drunken guy who didn't know a ledger from a scrap book.
Now if She'd engaged you an' me to keep tab of things for Her, we'd have
done a deal better. Those poor blamed sea-gulls, or whatever they are,
would have been squatting around on elegant beds of moulted feathers,
laid out on steam-heat radiators, feeding on oyster cocktails and
things, and handing out the instructive dope of a highbrow politician
working up a press reputation, and learning their kids the decent habits
of folk who're yearning to keep out of penitentiary as long as the
police'll let 'em. No. It's no use. Nature got busy. Look at the result.
Those fool birds'll follow us till they're tired, in the hope that some
guy'll dump the contents of the _Myra's_ swill barrel their way. Then
they'll have one disgusting orgy on the things other folks don't fancy,
and start right in to fly again to ease their digestions. It's a crazy
game anyway. And it leaves me with a mighty big slump in Nature's
stock."

Nancy listened delightedly to the man's pleasant fooling.

"It's worse than that," she cried, falling in with his humour. "Look at
some of them taking a rest, swimming about in that terribly cold water.
Ugh! No, if we'd fixed their sense we'd have made it so they'd have had
enough to get on dry land, like any other reasonable folk yearning for a
rest."

The man studied the girl's pretty profile, and a great sense of regret
stirred him that the Skandinavia had been able to buy her services. What
a perfect creature to have been supported by in the work he was engaged
on.

"That sounds good," he said. "R