owder
to displace, no ruffles to crush; men are lucky. Women never throw
themselves into each other's arms; they calculate the distance and
the damage perfectly.

They sat down, McClintock reaching for a lump of sugar which he
began munching.

"Come up by the packet?"

"No; came up with _The Tigress_."

"_The Tigress!_" The doctor laughed. "You'd have hit it off better
if you'd called her _The Sow_. I'll bet you haven't given her a
bucket of paint in three years. Oh, I know. You give her a daub
here and there where the rust shows. A man as rich as you are ought
to have a thousand-ton yacht."

"Good enough for me. She's plenty clean below."

"I'll bet she still smells to heaven with sour coconut. Bring your
liveralong?"

"I sometimes wonder if I have any--if it isn't the hole where it
was that aches."

"You look pretty fit."

"Oh, a shave and a clean suit will do a lot. It's a pity you
wouldn't give me the prescription instead of the medicine, so I
could have it filled nearer home."

"I'd never set eyes on you again. You'd be coming up to Hong-Kong,
but you'd be cutting out Canton. I'll bet you've been in Hong-Kong
these two weeks already, and never a line to me."

"Didn't want any lectures spoiling a good time."

"How long will you be here?"

"To-morrow night. It's sixteen days down, with _The Tigress_. The
South China will be dropping to a dead calm, and I want to use
canvas as much as I can. You simply can't get good oil down there,
so I must husband the few drams I carry."

"What a life!"

"No worse than yours."

"But I'm a poor man. I'm always shy the price of the ticket home.
You're rich. You could return to civilization and have a good time
all the rest of your days."

"Two weeks in Hong-Kong," replied McClintock, "is more than
enough."

"But, Lord, man!--don't you ever get lonesome?"

"Don't you?"

"I'm too busy."

"So am I. I am carrying back a hundred new books and forty new
records for the piano-player. Whenever I feel particularly
gregarious, I take the launch and run over to Copeley's and play
poker for a couple of days. Lonesomeness isn't my worry. I can't
keep a good man beyond three pay-days. They want some fun, and
there isn't any. No other white people within twenty miles. I've
combed Hong-Kong. They all balk because there aren't any
petticoats. I won't have a beachcomber on the island. The job is
easy. The big pay strikes them; but when they find there's no place
to sp