thinking of opening it in my bunk," says Bill. "The perlice might
want to examine it if we took it through the dock. Come on, Jimmy, old
man."

"Yes; all right," says the boy, nodding 'is 'ead at 'im. "I'll stay up
'ere. You might forget yourself, Bill, if I trusted myself down there
with you alone. You can throw my share up to me, and then you'll leave
the ship afore I do. See?"

"Go to blazes," says Bill; and then, seeing that the last chance 'ad
gone, we went below, and 'e chucked the bundle in 'is bunk. There was
only one chap down there, and arter spending best part o' ten minutes
doing 'is hair 'e nodded to us and went off.

Half a minute later Bill cut open the mattress and began to search
through the stuffing, while I struck matches and watched 'im. It wasn't
a big mattress and there wasn't much stuffing, but we couldn't seem to
see that money. Bill went all over it ag'in and ag'in, and then 'e stood
up and looked at me and caught 'is breath painful.

"Do you think the mate found it?" 'e says, in a 'usky voice.

We went through it ag'in, and then Bill went half-way up the fo'c's'le
ladder and called softly for Jimmy. He called three times, and then,
with a sinking sensation in 'is stummick, 'e went up on deck and I
follered 'im. The boy was nowhere to be seen. All we saw was the ship's
cat 'aving a wash and brush-up afore going ashore, and the skipper
standing aft talking to the owner.

We never saw that boy ag'in. He never turned up for 'is box, and 'e
didn't show up to draw 'is pay. Everybody else was there, of course, and
arter I'd got mine and come outside I see pore Bill with 'is back up
ag'in a wall, staring 'ard at the second mate, who was looking at 'im
with a kind smile, and asking 'im 'ow he'd slept. The last thing I saw
of Bill, the pore chap 'ad got 'is 'ands in 'is trousers pockets, and was
trying 'is hardest to smile back.

End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Bill's Paper Chase, by W.W. Jacobs

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