cond voyagers played team billiards together at the
Institute, and proposed one another to sing at the impromptu concerts;
while the young ones--those who had only been a dog-watch at sea--made
themselves sick smoking black tobacco and talking 'ship-talk' in the
half-deck.

Thus we fraternised in earnest, and when the _Torreador_ left for Port
Costa to load for home we bent our best ensign (though it was on a
week-day), and cheered her out of the berth.

Next week a Norwegian barque took up her vacant place. She had come
out from Swansea in ninety-eight days, and was an object of interest
for a while. Soon, though, we grew tired of the daily hammering of
'stock-fish' before breakfast, and the sight of her Mate starting the
windmill pump when the afternoon breeze came away. We longed for the
time when we, too, would tow up to Port Costa, for we had a little
matter of a race for ship's gigs to settle with the 'Torreador's' and
were only waiting for our Captains to take it up and put silk hats on
the issue.

XI

THE 'CONVALESCENT'

Welsh John was discharged from hospital at ten on a Sunday morning;
before dark he was locked up, charged with riotous behaviour and the
assaulting of one Hans Maartens, a Water Front saloon keeper. A matter
of strong drink, a weak head, and a maudlin argument, we thought; but
Hansen saw the hand of the 'crimps' in the affair, and when we heard
that sailormen were scarce (no ships having arrived within a
fortnight), we felt sure that they were counting on John's blood-money
from an outward-bound New Yorker.

"Ye see, John hadn't money enough t' get drunk on," he said. "We saw
him in hospital last Sunday, an' Munro gave him a 'half' to pay his
cars down t' th' ship when he came out. Half-dollars don't go far in
'sailor-town.' I guess these sharks have bin primin' him up t' get 'm
shipped down th' Bay. The _J. B. Grace_ has been lyin' at anchor off
The Presidio, with her 'Blue Peter' up this last week or more, an'
nobody 's allowed aboard 'r ashore but Daly an' his gang. Maartens is
in with 'em, an' the whole thing 's a plant to shanghai John. Drunk or
no' drunk, John 's seen th' game, an' plugged th' Dutchman for a start."

As it was on Munro's account that he had come by the injuries that put
him in hospital, we felt more than a passing interest in John's case,
and decided to get him clear of the 'crimps' if we could. We knew he
would be fined, for saloon-keepers and bo