s job up 'ansomely for me,
'aven't you? I'm to go on deck and steer while you two sit and guzzle,
and I'm to go by nickname, and got to call you "sir" and "mister." Well,
you look here, my bloke: I'll have fizz ad lib., or it won't wash. I
tell you that. And you know mighty well, you ain't got any man-of-war to
signal now.'

Davis was staggered. 'I'd give fifty dollars this had never happened,'
he said weakly.

'Well, it 'as 'appened, you see,' returned Huish. 'Try some; it's
devilish good.'

The Rubicon was crossed without another struggle. The captain filled a
mug and drank.

'I wish it was beer,' he said with a sigh. 'But there's no denying it's
the genuine stuff and cheap at the money. Now, Huish, you clear out and
take your wheel.'

The little wretch had gained a point, and he was gay. 'Ay, ay, sir,'
said he, and left the others to their meal.

'Pea soup!' exclaimed the captain. 'Blamed if I thought I should taste
pea soup again!'

Herrick sat inert and silent. It was impossible after these months of
hopeless want to smell the rough, high-spiced sea victuals without
lust, and his mouth watered with desire of the champagne. It was no less
impossible to have assisted at the scene between Huish and the captain,
and not to perceive, with sudden bluntness, the gulf where he had
fallen. He was a thief among thieves. He said it to himself. He could
not touch the soup. If he had moved at all, it must have been to leave
the table, throw himself overboard, and drown--an honest man.

'Here,' said the captain, 'you look sick, old man; have a drop of this.'

The champagne creamed and bubbled in the mug; its bright colour, its
lively effervescence, seized his eye. 'It is too late to hesitate,'
he thought; his hand took the mug instinctively; he drank, with
unquenchable pleasure and desire of more; drained the vessel dry, and
set it down with sparkling eyes.

'There is something in life after all!' he cried. 'I had forgot what it
was like. Yes, even this is worth while. Wine, food, dry clothes--why,
they're worth dying, worth hanging, for! Captain, tell me one thing: why
aren't all the poor folk foot-pads?'

'Give it up,' said the captain.

'They must be damned good,' cried Herrick. 'There's something here
beyond me. Think of that calaboose! Suppose we were sent suddenly back.'
He shuddered as though stung by a convulsion, and buried his face in his
clutching hands.

'Here, what's wrong with you?' cried the capt