atswain as
well as his own. Grain was inclined to stoutness--he'll soon be thin
again. As for you, you've sweated and slaved so much that your clothes
hang on like you a slop-chest shirt on a stanchion just now. But you'll
fill 'em out nicely by the time you get back to England again. Shouldn't
wonder but what you turn out to be a regular fat man one of these
days, my lad."

Murray stood back and looked humorously over Captain Kettle. The pair of
them liked one another well, but the ties of discipline had kept them
icily apart up to now. Murray's promotion put them on equal footing of
grade now, and they were inclined to make the most of it for the short
time they had together. "Running the _Parakeet_ doesn't seem to have
made you very plump, Skipper."

"Constitutional, I guess," said Kettle. "I don't believe the food's
grown that'd make me carry flesh. I'm one of those men that was sent
into the world with a whole shipload of bad luck to work through before
I came across any of the soft things."

"If you ask me," said Murray, cheerfully, "you haven't much to grumble
at now. Here am I kicking you out of the command of the _Parakeet_, to
be sure. And why? Because whilst you've been her old man you've made her
pay about half what she originally cost per annum, and as out of that
the firm's saved enough to build a new and bigger ship, they're
naturally going to give her to you to scare up more fat dividends.
Lord," said Murray, hitting his knee, "the chaps on board here will be
calling me the 'old man' behind my back now."

"You'll get used to hearing the title," said Kettle grimly, "before you
make your pile. You'll get married, I suppose, on the strength of the
promotion? I saw a girl's photo nailed up in your room."

The new captain nodded. "Got engaged when I passed for my master's
ticket. Arranged to be hitched so soon as I found a ship."

Kettle sighed drearily. "I was that way, my lad. I was married, and a
kid had come before I was thirty. Not that I ever regretted it; by
James! no. But for long enough I was never able to provide for the
missus in the way I'd like, and I can tell you it was terrible gall to
me to know that our set at the chapel looked down on her because she
could only keep a poor home. Yes, my lad, you'll have a lot to
go through."

"Well," said Murray, "I've got this promotion, and I'm not going to
worry about dismals. I suppose you go straight home by mail from
Aden here?"

"Hullo, hav