nearer and Prale could make out the form of a man
slipping along the dock's edge in a furtive manner. There was not light
enough for Prale to see his features. He was walking bent over, a short,
heavy-set man who did not wear an overcoat.

Prale watched as the man passed within six feet of him and went to the
edge of the dock. There he stood, outlined against the sky, looking down
at the water. Prale imagined that he heard something like a sob, and
gave closer attention. Then he saw the man take off his coat and drop it
behind him, remove his cap and place it on the coat, and look down at
the water again.

And then Sidney Prale sprang straight forward, and grasped the body of
the other as it was in mid-air.

"No, you don't!" Prale exclaimed.

He found immediately that he had a fight on his hands. The other whirled
and began kicking and striking. Sidney Prale hurled him backward,
rushed, caught him up again in a better hold, threw him back against the
building, and held him there, breathless and panting.

"Another smash out of you, and I'll drop you into the river myself!"
Prale said. "Suppose you take time to get your breath now."

"I--I thought you was a cop."

"Afraid of the cops?"

"It's against the law to--to try to commit suicide."

"So I understand," said Prale. "Well, I am not a cop. Trying to drown
yourself, were you? Why?"

"Why not?" the other asked. "I'm done with livin'."

"Not just yet, but you would have been if I hadn't been sitting here."

"I've knocked all over the world--and made a few mistakes," said the
derelict. "Oh, nothin' that would get me in trouble with the cops! But I
just found out that I'm clutterin' up the earth and don't amount to
anything. I'm sick of half starvin' to death, and workin' like a dog
when I get the chance just to get enough to keep a few old clothes hung
on me."

"Disgusted generally with your lot?" Prale asked.

"Yes, sir."

"Friends or relatives?"

"Not any."

"What's your name?" Prale asked.

"You mean my real name? I don't remember. It's been so long since I've
used it, and I've used so many others since that I don't know. What's
the difference?"

"I'll call you Murk," said Prale. "That expresses the dark river, the
deed you were about to do, and the evident state of your feelings."

"It's as good as any, I suppose."

"What's your particular grievance against the world in general?"

"It ain't anything in particular," said Murk. "It's just ge