ts as is scholards gets over the like of me. I see it now; you are
right, sir. What a wonderful head you've got for arguing, sewerly!"

"Then you'll tell Mr Reardon in the morning?"

"I didn't say as I would, sir."

"No; but you will?"

"No, sir, but I won't!" he said emphatically. "But I say, sir, do you
think if I was to go overboard, and then hitch myself on to the
rudder-chains till I was took aboard, the doctor'd give me a dose of
that same physic as he give him?"

"Very likely, Tom," I said. "But you'd rather be without, wouldn't
you?"

He smiled.

"But it was physic?"

"Oh yes, sir, it was physic. But then you see there's physic as he
takes out of one of his little bottles with stoppers, and there's physic
as he makes out of the ship's rum, hot with sugar. I could take a dose
now easy, and it would do me good."

"Nonsense!" I said, after a glance at the sleeping Chinaman. "But I
say, Jecks, how did he manage?"

"Oh, easy enough, sir. Tide would suck him right along the side, and
he'd catch the chains."

"But how did he get in such a tangle?"

"Tied hisself on, sir, with a handkerchy round his left arm, to the
chain; and then Dick Spurling says he twissened his tow-chang, as he
called it, round and round, and tucked the canister in at the neck of
his frock and buttoned it. Dick had no end of a job, as you know, to
get him undone."

"Yes," I said thoughtfully, "I know that; but a man couldn't hang by his
hair."

Tom Jecks laughed softly.

"Oh yes, he could, sir. There's no knowing how little a man can hang by
when he's obliged. Why, ain't you heard how we men hangs on to the
yards when we're aloft?"

"Oh yes, I've heard," I said; "by your eyelids."

"That's it, sir," he said, with a dry grin; "and that's harder than a
man hanging on by his hair."

Ching was still sleeping heavily, and our conversation did not disturb
him, and after a few moments' thought I said--

"But I don't feel at all sure why he did not hail the boats when they
were going off."

"Oh, I do, sir," replied Tom Jecks. "I wouldn't ha' thought it
possible, but the poor fellow was regularly scared, and wouldn't speak
at first, because he thought that if he was hoisted on board the first
thing we would do would be to go for his tail."

"Yes," I said, "that sounds likely; but he did hail after all."

"And enough to make him, sir; poor chap. Do you know why?"

"Well, not exactly," I said.

"A'cause the fir