naught but a tumbling waste of water. And then the truth of

what had happened to him broke upon his understanding.

"An' I was goin' to roll that guy!" he muttered in helpless

bewilderment. "I was a-goin' to roll him, and now look here

wot he has done to me!"

At that moment a light appeared above as the hatch was

raised, and Billy saw the feet and legs of a large man descending

the ladder from above. When the newcomer reached the

floor and turned to look about his eyes met Billy's, and Billy

saw that it was his host of the previous evening.

"Well, my hearty, how goes it?" asked the stranger.

"You pulled it off pretty slick," said Billy.

"What do you mean?" asked the other with a frown.

"Come off," said Billy; "you know what I mean."

"Look here," replied the other coldly. "Don't you forget

that I'm mate of this ship, an' that you want to speak

respectful to me if you ain't lookin' for trouble. My name's

MR. Ward, an' when you speak to me say SIR. Understand?"

Billy scratched his head, and blinked his eyes. He never

before had been spoken to in any such fashion--at least not

since he had put on the avoirdupois of manhood. His head

ached horribly and he was sick to his stomach--frightfully

sick. His mind was more upon his physical suffering than

upon what the mate was saying, so that quite a perceptible

interval of time elapsed before the true dimensions of the

affront to his dignity commenced to percolate into the befogged

and pain-racked convolutions of his brain.

The mate thought that his bluster had bluffed the new

hand. That was what he had come below to accomplish.

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