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He descended and went aft. The man coiling ropes, whom Murphy learned later was the first mate, looked furtively at him as he passed, and turned in his tracks so as not to show him his back. Murphy judged that he was nervous over something that had happened–something connected with his injuries. Climbing the poop steps, he was stopped by Captain Williams, who descended from the house and faced him.

“Well, Murphy, what the hell are you doing here? Are you in on this deal?”

“What deal, Captain?” asked Murphy, meekly, for it was no place for self-respect.

“This deal I got from your discharged runner, Hennesey. I only dealt with the fellow because he told me he had quit you. And look at what he gave me for a crew–twenty-four wild Micks that, let alone the ropes, can’t speak English or understand it. Are you a party to this trick, Murphy?”

“I’m not,” declared Murphy, stoutly. “The domned villain doped me last night, and must ha’ put me aboard wid the crew he shipped for you. What for, I don’t know. He had yer full count, as he told me.”

“Guess you’re the man he hoisted up himself, saying you were willing to work your passage without pay. So I let you come and sleep it off.”

“He did!” stormed Murphy, “the dirty, ungrateful dog! I took him in and gave him wark, and I took him back after I’d discharged him. And now I git this! O’ course, Captain, ye’ll put me aboard the first ship me meet bound in.”

“Not much, I won’t. If you took Hennesey back you’re in on this deal.”

“I’m not in it. Where’s Hennesey now, Captain Williams?”

“Went back in the tug, I suppose. He didn’t stop to get his receipt signed for the men he delivered. So, he gets no money for this kind of a crew. They’re not sailors, and he loses. Moreover, Murphy, you lose. Hennesey brought me the articles, and every man Jack o’ them signed his allotment over to you as favored creditor. That means that Hennesey got this bunch out of your house. As they’re not sailors, I mean to disrate them to boys at five dollars a month. That’s the allotment you get, if you care to sue for it; but I told the tug captain to notify the owners to pay no allotment notes.”

“Ye did?” spluttered Murphy. “Well, Williams, I’ll sue, don’t ye fear. I’ll sue.”

“That’s as may be,” said Williams, coldly. “Meanwhile, you’ll sing small, do what you’re told, and work your passage; and any time that you forget where you are, call on me and I’ll tell you.”

“Ye want me to wark me passage, do ye? And what’ll I do? It’s gone twinty years since I’ve been to sea. I can’t go aloft, wi’ the fat on me.”

“I see,” said the skipper, seriously, “that your displacement is more than your dimensions call for. Can you boss that bunch of Kollkenny cats?”

“I can,” said Murphy, mournfully and hopelessly, “if ye’ll do yer share. Give me a brick to carry in me pocket, and I’ll make ’em wark. They’re rival factions from Limerick and Galway, and each side’ll wark like hill to bate the other. I can stir ’em up to this, but I can’t control thim widout a brick.”

“All right. Dig a brick out of the galley floor. Anything in reason to get sail on this ship. The topsails ‘ll do till they learn.”

“All right, Captain,” said Murphy, meekly. “I’m in for it, and I’ve got to make the best of it. Shall I rouse ’em out now?”

“No; they’re no good till sober. But steal their bottles before they wake. You fitted them out with some pretty strong stuff, I take it. They wakened at daylight, just as the tug came, mobbed the faces off me and the two mates, and only manned the windlass at last when I told them it made the boat go. Well, I can understand the rivalry. They took sides, each gang together, and hove on the brakes, faster than I ever saw a windlass go round before. When they’d got the anchor apeak and the mate told them to stop it made no difference. They hove the anchor up to the hawse-pipes, and would have parted the chain if it had been weaker. Then they took another drink out of their bottles and went to sleep. The tug pushed us out past the light-ship and left us. So, here we are.”