s bein' king, an' I enjoyed it. I
learned Pinky to speak a little English an' she learned me her
lingo, an' we got along mighty fine. Pinky would lay awake
nights, snoopin' around listenin' to what the rest o' the gang
had to say about me, and twice she put me wise to uprisin's that
threatened my throne. I used to get the ring leaders in my arms
an' hug 'em, an' after one hug from Adelbert P. Gibney in them
days----

"Well, as I was sayin', it was nice enough until the novelty wore
off, an' there was nothin' to do that I hadn't done twenty times
before. I thought some o' goin' to war with the wild niggers in
the hills, an' avengin' my father-in-law's death, but I couldn't
get my army more than three miles inland, so I had to give that
up. Before three months had passed I wanted to abdicate the worst
way. I wanted to tread a deck again, an' rove around with Bull
McGinty. I wanted th' smell o' the open sea an' th' heave o' th'
_Dashin' Wave_ underfoot. I was tired o' breadfruit an' guavas
an' cocoanuts an' all th' rest o' th' blasted grub that Pinky was
feedin' me, an' most of all I was gettin' tired o' Pinky. She
_would_ put cocoanut oil in her hair. Yet (here Mr. Gibney's
voice vibrated with emotion as he conjured up these memories of
his lurid past) it never occurred to me, at the time, I was that
young an' foolish, that she was doin' it for _me_. She was as
beautiful as ever, an' Gawd knows nobody but a fool would get
tired o' such a fine woman, every inch a queen, but I was just
that foolish.

"I got so lonesome I wouldn't eat. I wished McGinty would show up
an' relieve me of my kingship. An' one night sure enough he came.
It was moonlight--you've been in the tropics, McGuffey, you know
what real moonlight is--an' I was lyin' out on th' edge of
Hakatuea overlookin' the beach. I'd spotted a sail at sunset an'
somethin' told me it was the _Dashin' Wave_. Pinky was with me,
rubbin' my head an' braidin' my whiskers an' cooin' over me like
a baby, as happy as any woman could be.

"Along about ten o'clock, I should say, here comes the _Dashin'
Wave_ around the headland. I could see her luff up an' come about
with her bow headed straight for the entrance between the reefs,
an' th' water purlin' under her forefoot. Everything was as still
as the grave, an' only the surf was swishin' up th' beach sobbin'
'Peace! Peace!' and there wasn't no peace for King Gibney. Pretty
soon I heard the creak of the blocks an' the smash