ve off talking, and I could
see that Bill was so pleased at finding that the money 'adn't been thrown
overboard that 'e was losing sight o' the difficulty o' getting at it.
In a day or two, 'owever, 'e see it as plain as me and Jimmy did, and, as
time went by, he got desprit, and frightened us both by 'anging about aft
every chance 'e got.

The companion-way faced the wheel, and there was about as much chance o'
getting down there without being seen as there would be o' taking a man's
false teeth out of 'is mouth without 'is knowing it. Jimmy went down one
day while Bill was at the wheel to look for 'is knife, wot 'e thought
'e'd left down there, and 'ed 'ardly got down afore Bill saw 'im come up
ag'in, 'olding on to the top of a mop which the steward was using.

We couldn't figure it out nohow, and to think o' the second mate, a
little man with a large fam'ly, who never 'ad a penny in 'is pocket,
sleeping every night on a six 'undered pound mattress, sent us pretty
near crazy. We used to talk it over whenever we got a chance, and Bill
and Jimmy could scarcely be civil to each other. The boy said it was
Bill's fault, and 'e said it was the boy's.

"The on'y thing I can see," says the boy, one day, "is for Bill to 'ave a
touch of sunstroke as 'e's leaving the wheel one day, tumble 'ead-first
down the companion-way, and injure 'isself so severely that 'e can't be
moved. Then they'll put 'im in a cabin down aft, and p'raps I'll 'ave to
go and nurse 'im. Anyway, he'll be down there."

"It's a very good idea, Bill," I says.

"Ho," says Bill, looking at me as if 'e would eat me. "Why don't you do
it, then?"

"I'd sooner you did it, Bill," says the boy; "still, I don't mind which
it is. Why not toss up for it?"

"Get away," says Bill. "Get away afore I do something you won't like,
you blood-thirsty little murderer."

"I've got a plan myself," he says, in a low voice, after the boy 'ad
'opped off, "and if I can't think of nothing better I'll try it, and
mind, not a word to the boy."

He didn't think o' nothing better, and one night just as we was making
the Channel 'e tried 'is plan. He was in the second mate's watch, and
by-and-by 'e leans over the wheel and says to 'im in a low voice, "This
is my last v'y'ge, sir."

"Oh," says the second mate, who was a man as didn't mind talking to a man
before the mast. "How's that?"

"I've got a berth ashore, sir," says Bill, "and I wanted to ask a favour,
sir."