pgallants if you like, and a reef in the topsails as well. It
will save bother, perhaps, bye and bye, as the night will be a darkish
one and the weather is not too trustworthy."

Captain Gillespie then went down the companion into the cuddy to have
his tea; and Mr Mackay, thinking I ought to be hungry after all my
sacrifices to Neptune, advised me to go down below and get some too.

I was hungry, but I did not care about tea, the flavour of the pea-soup
the stowaway had been plied with having roused my appetite; so,
receiving Mr Mackay's permission, instead of seeking out the steward
Pedro, I paid a visit to Ching Wang in his galley forward.

"Hi, lilly pijjin," cried this worthy, receiving me far more pleasantly
than I'm sure the Portuguese would have done, for as I passed under the
break of the poop I heard the latter clattering his tins about in the
pantry, as if he were in a rage at something. "What you wanchee--hey?"

I soon explained my wants; and, without the slightest demur, he ladled
out a basinful of soup for me out of one of the coppers gently stewing
over the galley fire, which looked quite bright and nice as the evening
was chilly. The good-natured Chinaman also gave me a couple of hard
ship's biscuits which he took out of a drawer in the locker above the
fireplace, where they were kept dry.

"Hi, you eatee um chop chop," said he, as he handed me the basin and the
biscuits and made me sit down on a sort of settle in the galley opposite
the warm fire--"makee tummee tummee all right."

The effects of this food were as wonderful in my instance as in that of
the poor starved bricklayer shortly before; for, when I had eaten the
last biscuit crumb and drained the final drop of pea-soup from the
basin, I felt a new man, or rather boy--Allan Graham himself, and not
the wretched feeble nonentity I had been previously.

Of course, I thanked Ching Wang for his kindness as I rose up from the
settle to go away, on the starboard watch, who were just relieved from
their duty on deck, coming for their tea; but the Chinee only shook his
head with a broad smile on his yellow face, as if deprecating any return
for his kind offices.

"You goodee pijjin and chin chin when you comee," he only said, "and
when you wanchee chow-chow, you comee Ching Wang and him gettee you chop
chop!"

Then, I stopped in front of the forecastle, as Tim Rooney giving me a
cheery hail, and saw to my wonder Joe Fergusson looking all hale a