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“How’s it to be done, Bill?”

“Hang about arter the rest ‘ave gone ashore, and trust to luck,” says Bill, looking at me. “We’ll see ‘ow the land lays when we draw our advance.”

We went down aft to draw ten shillings each to go ashore with. Bill and me got ours fust, and then the second mate who ‘ad tipped ‘im the wink followed us out unconcerned-like and ‘anded Bill the mattress rolled up in a sack.

“‘Ere you are, Bill,” ‘e says.

“Much obliged, sir,” says Bill, and ‘is ‘ands trembled so as ‘e could ‘ardly ‘old it, and ‘e made to go off afore Jimmy come on deck.

Then that fool of a mate kept us there while ‘e made a little speech. Twice Bill made to go off, but ‘e put ‘is ‘and on ‘is arm and kept ‘im there while ‘e told ‘im ‘ow he’d always tried to be liked by the men, and ‘ad generally succeeded, and in the middle of it up popped Master Jimmy.

He gave a start as he saw the bag, and ‘is eyes opened wide, and then as we walked forward ‘e put ‘is arm through Bill’s and called ‘im all the names ‘e could think of.

“You’d steal the milk out of a cat’s saucer,” ‘e says; “but mind, you don’t leave this ship till I’ve got my share.”

“I meant it for a pleasant surprise for you, Jimmy,” says Bill, trying to smile.

“I don’t like your surprises, Bill, so I don’t deceive you,” says the boy. “Where are you going to open it?”

“I was thinking of opening it in my bunk,” says Bill. “The perlice might want to examine it if we took it through the dock. Come on, Jimmy, old man.”

“Yes; all right,” says the boy, nodding ‘is ‘ead at ‘im. “I’ll stay up ‘ere. You might forget yourself, Bill, if I trusted myself down there with you alone. You can throw my share up to me, and then you’ll leave the ship afore I do. See?”

“Go to blazes,” says Bill; and then, seeing that the last chance ‘ad gone, we went below, and ‘e chucked the bundle in ‘is bunk. There was only one chap down there, and arter spending best part o’ ten minutes doing ‘is hair ‘e nodded to us and went off.

Half a minute later Bill cut open the mattress and began to search through the stuffing, while I struck matches and watched ‘im. It wasn’t a big mattress and there wasn’t much stuffing, but we couldn’t seem to see that money. Bill went all over it ag’in and ag’in, and then ‘e stood up and looked at me and caught ‘is breath painful.

“Do you think the mate found it?” ‘e says, in a ‘usky voice.

We went through it ag’in, and then Bill went half-way up the fo’c’s’le ladder and called softly for Jimmy. He called three times, and then, with a sinking sensation in ‘is stummick, ‘e went up on deck and I follered ‘im. The boy was nowhere to be seen. All we saw was the ship’s cat ‘aving a wash and brush-up afore going ashore, and the skipper standing aft talking to the owner.

We never saw that boy ag’in. He never turned up for ‘is box, and ‘e didn’t show up to draw ‘is pay. Everybody else was there, of course, and arter I’d got mine and come outside I see pore Bill with ‘is back up ag’in a wall, staring ‘ard at the second mate, who was looking at ‘im with a kind smile, and asking ‘im ‘ow he’d slept. The last thing I saw of Bill, the pore chap ‘ad got ‘is ‘ands in ‘is trousers pockets, and was trying ‘is hardest to smile back.