ice French Frank had paid--eighty cents.
EIGHTY CENTS! It was an outrage to my thrifty soul. Eighty cents--the
equivalent of eight long hours of my toil at the machine, gone down our
throats, and gone like that, in a twinkling, leaving only a bad taste in
the mouth. There was no discussion that French Frank was a waster.

I was anxious to be gone, out into the sunshine, out over the water to my
glorious boat. But all hands lingered. Even Spider, my crew, lingered.
No hint broke through my obtuseness of why they lingered. I have often
thought since of how they must have regarded me, the newcomer being
welcomed into their company standing at bar with them, and not standing
for a single round of drinks.

French Frank, who, unknown to me, had swallowed his chagrin since the day
before, now that the money for the Razzle Dazzle was in his pocket, began
to behave curiously toward me. I sensed the change in his attitude, saw
the forbidding glitter in his eyes, and wondered. The more I saw of men,
the queerer they became. Johnny Heinhold leaned across the bar and
whispered in my ear, "He's got it in for you. Watch out."

I nodded comprehension of his statement, and acquiescence in it, as a man
should nod who knows all about men. But secretly I was perplexed.
Heavens! How was I, who had worked hard and read books of adventure, and
who was only fifteen years old, who had not dreamed of giving the Queen
of the Oyster Pirates a second thought, and who did not know that French
Frank was madly and Latinly in love with her--how was I to guess that I
had done him shame? And how was I to guess that the story of how the
Queen had thrown him down on his own boat, the moment I hove in sight,
was already the gleeful gossip of the water-front? And by the same token,
how was I to guess that her brother Pat's offishness with me was anything
else than temperamental gloominess of spirit?

Whisky Bob got me aside a moment. "Keep your eyes open," he muttered.
"Take my tip. French Frank's ugly. I'm going up river with him to get a
schooner for oystering. When he gets down on the beds, watch out. He
says he'll run you down. After dark, any time he's around, change your
anchorage and douse your riding light. Savve?"

Oh, certainly, I savve'd. I nodded my head, and, as one man to another,
thanked him for his tip; and drifted back to the group at the bar. No; I
did not treat. I never dreamed that I was expected to treat. I left