ks get in this life--and you've got that. The boss
of this boat is goin' to give you that much. So all you can do is
to take what's given you and do the best you can. And all I can do
is stay back here and sweat blood and say the only prayer that I know,
which is 'Now I lay me down to sleep.'"

And after this bit of consolation he went back amidships to comfort
the hungry Imogene, who had been unable to find much in the cuisine
of a revenue cutter that would satisfy the appetite of elephants.

At half-past nine in the forenoon the cutter swept past Bug Light
and into the inner harbor. Hardly had the steamer swung with the tide
at her anchorage before the captain's gig was proceeding briskly
toward Commercial Wharf, two men rowing and the man of the faded blue
cap at the helm. The antagonists in the strange duello sat back to
back, astraddle a seat. At this hateful contact their hair seemed
fairly to bristle.

"Now, gents," said Faded Cap, as they approached the wharf, "the
skipper said he wanted fair play. No scrougin' to get out onto the
ladder first. I'm goin' to land at the double ladder at the end of
the wharf, and there's room for both of you. I'll say 'Now!' and then
you start."

"You fellers are gettin' a good deal of fun out this thing," sputtered
Cap'n Sproul, angrily, "but don't you think I don't know it and resent
it. Now, don't you talk to me like you were startin' a foot-race!"

"What is it, if it ain't a foot-race?" inquired Faded Cap, calmly.
"They don't have hacks or trolley-cars on that wharf, and you'll
either have to run or fly, and I don't see any signs of wings on you."

Colonel Ward did not join in this remonstrance. He only worked his
jaws and uttered a few croaks.

When the gig surged to the foot of the ladder, Colonel Ward attempted
a desperate play, and an unfair one. He was on the outside, and leaped
up, stepped on Cap'n Sproul, and sprang for the ladder. The Cap'n
was quick enough to grab his legs, yank him back into the boat, and
mount over him in his turn. The man of the faded cap was nearly stunned
by Ward falling on him, and the rowers lost their oars.

When the Colonel had untangled himself from the indignant seamen and
had escaped up the ladder, Cap'n Sproul was pelting up the wharf at
a most amazing clip, considering his short legs. Before Ward had
fairly gathered himself for the chase his fifteen-thousand-dollar
check and the man bearing it had disappeared around a corner int