LIBRARY 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF 
 
 CALIFORNIA 
 . SAN DIEGO
 
 c
 
 MASTERS OF MEN
 
 ; GO AHEAD AND BE GOOD.'"
 
 MASTERS OF MEN 
 
 A Romance of the 
 
 New Navy 
 
 BY 
 
 MORGAN ROBERTSON 
 
 Author of " Spun Yarn," " Where Angels Fear 
 to Tread," etc. 
 
 NEW YORK 
 
 DOUBLEDAY, PAGE & CO. 
 1902
 
 COPYRIGHT, 1901, 
 BY CUETIS PUBLISHING CO. 
 
 COPYRIGHT, 1901, 
 BY DOUBLEDAY, PAGE & CO. 
 
 Norfaool) $regg 
 
 J. 8. Gushing & Co. Berwick & Smith 
 Norwood Mass. U.S.A.
 
 To my Wife a good woman
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 BOOK I 
 
 THE AGE OF STONE 
 
 BOOK II 
 
 THE AGE OF IRON 
 
 BOOK HI 
 
 BARBARISM 
 
 144 
 
 BOOK IV 
 CIVILIZATION ........ 269
 
 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 " ' Go ahead and be good '" . . . Frontispiece 
 
 FACING PAGE 
 
 " He stared defiantly into her eyes as she watched the 
 
 men told off " . . - 125 
 
 " Bilker had brought his hands out of his pockets, and 
 
 in each was a bright revolver " . . . .156 
 
 " ' Proceed with your dead, American '" . . 294
 
 MASTERS OF MEN 
 
 BOOK I 
 
 THE A aJ5 OF STONE 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 A BOY of fifteen was being vigorously cuffed 
 and kicked by a larger boy, and a black- 
 haired girl was speeding toward them on the 
 sidewalk, when from across the street came 
 another boy red-haired and freckled who 
 jumped puddles and arrived on the scene coinci 
 dent with the girl. 
 
 " Let my brother alone, you you you mean 
 old thing," she cried as, with flashing eyes and 
 fingers working nervously, she confronted the 
 pair. 
 
 "Ah, gwan," answered the cuffer, with a quick, 
 comprehensive glance at the working fingers and 
 sharp nails ; " he hit me wid a rock." 
 
 "He hit me first," screamed the victim. He 
 was a pink-cheeked boy in knickerbockers the 
 type of boy that is seldom punished at home.
 
 2 MASTERS OF MEN 
 
 " Take some one your own size," said the red- 
 haired boy. 
 
 "Go chase yourself, Dick Halpin; this ain't 
 your funeral." 
 
 " Let up drop it let him go ! " 
 
 " Make him stop. Oh, please make him stop," 
 wailed the girl, changing front at the prospect of 
 a champion. 
 
 There was a confused tangle of arms and legs, 
 from which the boy in knickerbockers emerged 
 and sped to the middle of the street ; then, while 
 the girl wrung her hands anxiously, the whirl of 
 combat continued until the larger boy shot off at 
 a tangent, and, colliding with the fence, collapsed 
 in an astonished heap. He had not been struck, 
 nor was he hurt, but the strength and courage of 
 the red-haired boy smaller than himself was 
 so completely at variance with his record, as to 
 call, first for respect, then analysis and classifica 
 tion ; all of which required time and distance. 
 So, with a promise to " square up," he arose and 
 departed, followed by a threatening "get out," 
 from Dick, and a well-aimed stone from the boy 
 in the street. 
 
 Dick Halpin, red-haired, slim and under-sized, 
 had no standing as a fighter. Not that he lacked 
 courage, or the quickest of tempers ; it simply had 
 not come to him. He possessed a dignity or, 
 possibly, a lack of dignity and a quiet geniality
 
 THE AGE OF STONE 3 
 
 and insistence of manner, which, with a certain 
 readiness of speech, had always won him his point 
 in schoolboy friction. And in schoolboy ethics 
 there was no legitimate reason for his interfering 
 in this manner. He had seen the treacherously 
 thrown "rock" impinge upon the head of Pig 
 Jones, had watched the pursuit and capture, and 
 knew that the punishment was deserved. But he 
 had also seen over his shoulder the twin sister of 
 the youngster. 
 
 She was the new girl in the school, whose 
 father had lately settled in the town and built 
 the largest and finest house that it contained. 
 Unlike her brother, she had made no friends and 
 few acquaintances ; but, with her steady dark eyes 
 she had taken the measure of every boy and girl 
 in the school calmly staring them out of coun 
 tenance, and finishing by a close inspection of 
 their clothing. Had it been less dispassionate, 
 or had she been less of a mystery, her manner 
 would have been resented ; but, as it was, girls 
 turned up their noses only behind her back, and 
 the boys all but Pig Jones, in whose soul was 
 neither poetry nor reverence placed her upon 
 a pedestal and did her silent homage. She knew 
 her lessons without apparent study, asked no 
 instructions or favours, and never entered their 
 world except in quest of her brother. 
 
 Dick had been inspected early. A stumble and
 
 4 MASTERS OF MEN 
 
 slip in front of the school gate had sprawled him 
 at full length in a puddle and lavishly splashed 
 her with mud. His shamefaced "Excuse me" 
 was not answered, and not even the laughter of 
 the boys so harrowed him as the scrutiny he re 
 ceived. She showed no annoyance, but looked 
 into and through his gray eyes as though seeking 
 the reason of a boy's falling in the mud. Then 
 she had turned her back on him. 
 
 A little exhilarated by his conquest of Pig, he 
 felt less overpowered by her now and looked 
 frankly into her face. There was the faintest 
 smile at the corners of her mouth, but her mo 
 mentary agitation had passed and her expression 
 was as inscrutable as ever. 
 
 " It was very good of you," she said in her 
 musical, womanly voice. " I wish he had a big 
 brother." 
 
 " I wish he had," blurted out Dick. 
 
 She smiled openly at this, and looked up the 
 street at her relative, now returning from a short 
 pursuit of Pig. 
 
 "I know your name Richard Halpin 
 
 " Dick," he interrupted. 
 
 " Dick, then and you know mine. Do you 
 like Georgie ? " 
 
 Dick did not. He had stopped a " rock " him 
 self a few days before, and had listened to Geor 
 gie' s outspoken disapproval of red hair; but he
 
 THE AGE OF STONE 5 
 
 answered, "Pretty well; though he's not big 
 enough to travel with a fellow of my size." 
 
 " But won't you see that he isn't bullied ? " she 
 asked earnestly. " He can't defend himself from 
 larger boys ; he's sickly and delicate." 
 
 Dick blushed. "No, I. can't do that," he an 
 swered. " I can't fight a little, much less lick the 
 whole crowd. And most of 'em are bigger than 
 me. Besides, your brother picks all the rows him 
 self." 
 
 " Then won't you talk to him ? He won't listen 
 to me. Will you be his friend and my friend, 
 too?" 
 
 " Yes," he stammered, with wide-open eyes, 
 "if you'll let me; and I'll look out for him 
 all I can, but he must help, and keep out of 
 trouble." 
 
 " Thank you ; I knew you would." 
 
 There was a faint tinge of colour in her face, and 
 she stepped past him with a slight inclination of 
 her head, as if to bid him good morning. Then 
 she turned, smiling frankly, and said : " I was on 
 the way to school. Are you going Dick ? " 
 
 So Dick walked to school with Mabel Arthur. 
 She talked of the good points of Georgie the 
 motherless, abused, and generous Georgie who, 
 knowing nothing of the alliance in his behalf, and 
 apparently unable to comprehend his sister's new 
 state of mind, convoyed them on the opposite side
 
 6 MASTERS OF MEN 
 
 of the street, often looking over to make irrele 
 vant remarks. Dick remembered little of what 
 she said only her musical voice. 
 
 In an ecstasy of pride and embarrassment, from 
 a keen appreciation of his outward defects his 
 freckles, fiery hair, unpolished shoes, and pocket 
 bulging with a pair of swimming-trunks Dick 
 passed the staring groups in front of the school, 
 nodding sheepishly to those of the boys who 
 caught his eye, and, parting from Mabel at the 
 girls' door, entered the building by the other, 
 through which a few studious boys were al 
 ready straggling on toward their desks. Under 
 ordinary circumstances he would have remained 
 outside with the others until the last bell had 
 rung, but this noon he could not he lacked his 
 usual sangfroid; he was only sixteen, and had 
 publicly played the young gentleman escorted 
 a girl to school. Boyhood resents this departure, 
 and he dreaded gibes and jokes. 
 
 The schoolhouse was a three-storied brick struc 
 ture, standing at the end of the village street. 
 Behind it and beyond was vacant land reaching 
 to the river, and across this land, cutting a few 
 fences and stone walls, was a trail used by the 
 boys to reach a famous swimming-hole, with div 
 ing-rock and spring-board, a mile up the stream. 
 It was here that Dick expected to go when school 
 closed ; and it was because of a recent edict of the
 
 THE AGE OF STONE 7 
 
 village fathers and a cross-grained constable that 
 he had brought his swimming-trunks. 
 
 His class occupied the second floor of the build 
 ing. There were a few scholars at their desks as 
 he entered, and going to her seat on the other side 
 of the room was Mabel, who had beaten him up 
 the stairs. Her dark eyes lightened momentarily 
 as she glanced at him, but for that day she gave 
 him no further attention. He put the swimming- 
 trunks in his desk and advanced to the stage 
 where the principal sat at his table.
 
 CHAPTER II 
 
 " TTERE'S my money for the team, Mr. Clark," 
 1 I he said, as he laid a half-dollar on the 
 table. 
 
 " Very well, Richard thank you." He opened 
 a drawer and took out two silver quarter-dollars 
 which he pocketed with Dick's half-dollar ; then, 
 removing a dollar bill from his note-book, he 
 slipped it into an envelope with other bills, and 
 replaced the envelope in the drawer. 
 " Now we have it all in bills, Richard." 
 " Yes, sir," answered Dick, who had eyed the 
 money with a boy's curiosity. 
 
 Mr. Clark smiled benignly, and Dick went to 
 his seat. Through the afternoon he was re 
 peatedly reminded that he had risen in popular 
 estimation. Girls all but Mabel looked curi 
 ously at him across aisles and over desks, boys, 
 one after another, caught his eye and elevated 
 two fingers, a signal which he answered in kind. 
 It meant swimming after school, and he was 
 amazed at the sudden demand for his company 
 by boys older and larger than himself who had 
 heretofore preferred his room, but he was shrewd 
 enough to understand it.
 
 THE AGE OF STONE 9 
 
 Georgie never went swimming, and Pig Jones 
 did not care for Dick's society to-day, but four 
 other boys all of them older and larger than 
 Dick surrounded him outside the school. He 
 would have preferred, now, brazenly to join Mabel 
 and walk home with her, but his agreement to 
 go swimming was held binding ; so they started 
 toward the swimming-hole, taking, for some rea 
 son unspoken among them, but probably because 
 of their number, the country road instead of the 
 trail. This road circled inland and made the 
 journey a half-mile longer. 
 
 With big Tom Allen on one side of him, bigger 
 Will Simpson, who had once thrashed the hotel 
 porter, on the other, and Tom Brandes and Ned 
 Brown behind, Dick swaggered out the road. 
 No mention was made of his fight and the 
 resultant acquaintance by the boys they waited 
 for him to speak and explain ; but he was silent. 
 A delicacy that was partly pride impelled him to 
 talk on any other subject. 
 
 When the boys had made a half mile of the 
 journey, Dick remembered that he had left his 
 swimming-trunks in his desk. Visions of a cross- 
 grained constable, arrest, and friction at home 
 rose before him, and he halted. " I'll go back and 
 get 'em, boys," he said, " and come out cross-cut. 
 Go ahead, and go slow." 
 
 They protested, but in vain; he quitted them
 
 10 MASTERS OP MEN 
 
 and raced back. The street in front of the school 
 was vacant. The janitor had not come to close 
 the building, and he mounted the first flight of 
 stairs at a run ; a little tired from the exertion, he 
 walked quietly up the last, and opened the door 
 of the schoolroom to see Georgie locking the prin 
 cipal's desk and cramming an envelope into his 
 trousers pocket. 
 
 " Hello, Dick," he said, with a red face, but 
 brave front. 
 
 " Hello ! What are you doing here ? " . 
 
 " What are you doing ? " 
 
 "After my swimming-pants. What did you 
 take out of that drawer ? " 
 
 " Nothin'." 
 
 " Yes, you did." 
 
 "No, I didn't." 
 
 "Yes, you did. Put it back. I know the 
 envelope. You put that money back." 
 
 "Well I won't." 
 
 "Then I'll make you. Your sister asked me 
 to look out for you this morning, and I'm goin' to 
 do it, if I have to do it with a club." 
 
 "Say, Dick; don't tell her, will you, if I put 
 you on to something? She's dead gone on 
 you." 
 
 Partly from indignation, partly from the going 
 home of the shot, Dick's face grew red. But 
 indignation dominated. Advancing on Georgie,
 
 THE AGE OF STONE 11 
 
 he said : " I know soft-soap. You put that money 
 back quick, or I'll wring your neck." 
 
 In the end Dick was compelled to choke him 
 before he could get his hand on the envelope ; 
 then the other, in a passion of tears, went down 
 the stairs, while Dick counted the money. It 
 was all there, twenty dollars, and he tried 
 the drawer, but it would not open. 
 
 " The little thief has the key," he muttered ; 
 "and I've got to get it or give him away, and 
 she won't thank me for that. Nice contract I've 
 taken." 
 
 Not caring to lose the fun up the river, and 
 deciding that any time before school hours in 
 the morning would do to return the money, he 
 put it in his pocket, secured his swimming-trunks, 
 and left the building, taking the short cut across 
 the fields on a run. 
 
 There was no one at the swimming-hole when 
 he arrived, but the diving-rock and spring-board 
 were wet, and on the ground was Tom Allen's 
 knife, which he knew well, having once owned 
 it. Satisfied that the boys had come and gone, 
 and wondering why they had not waited, he 
 undressed and took his swim short because he 
 was alone and because of the load on his mind. 
 When he was clothed again, he pocketed Tom's 
 knife and returned by the country road, finding 
 the boys he had started with on the ball-ground
 
 12 MASTERS OF MEN 
 
 across the street from the school. Georgie was 
 with them now, looking on while they listlessly 
 threw the ball one to another. 
 
 " Why didn't you wait for me, boys," said Dick, 
 as he joined them. " I hurried as fast as I could." 
 
 " "We didn't go swimming," answered Will Simp 
 son, after an interval of silence, during which the 
 ball ceased to travel. 
 
 "Didn't ? " said Dick, in astonishment. " Why, 
 yes, you did. I found Tom's knife there." Tom 
 had drawn near. 
 
 " Here's your knife, Tom," he continued, draw 
 ing it from his pocket. Tom's hand involuntarily 
 extended to take it, then fell to his side. 
 
 " 'Tisn't my knife," he said, in a little confusion. 
 " I lost it a long time ago don't know who it 
 belongs to now." 
 
 "It belongs to you, if you lost it," answered 
 Dick. "Take your knife. I don't want it. 
 What's the matter with you all, anyhow ? " 
 
 They had drawn away from him, all but Tom, 
 who was examining the knife. 
 
 "Nothin's the matter with us," he answered, 
 handing the knife back, "I don't want it. We 
 just changed our minds and come back. We 
 didn't go near the river." 
 
 "Well, all right, if you didn't; but you were 
 eager enough at the start." 
 
 Dick pocketed the knife and sauntered over
 
 THE AGE OF STONE 13 
 
 to Georgie, hoping to be able to get the key from 
 him, or at least to talk him into reason ; but that 
 young gentleman trotted off with a fine display 
 of indifference, whooping occasionally, like a boy 
 with a clear conscience. It was unwise to pursue 
 him openly, and resolving to catch him after dark, 
 Dick returned to the boys.
 
 CHAPTER III 
 
 was something in the air. The boys 
 JL stopped talking on his approach, and the 
 ball went lazily back and forth with none of the 
 usual calls for a " catch." Puzzled by their man 
 ner and hurt, at last he left them, wondering 
 if it had any connection with the theft of the 
 money. 
 
 "If I can't get him to give up the key," he 
 mused, " I'll have to tell on him. Who'd believe 
 that I was trying to shield the little viper, suppos 
 ing it was missed and found on me? He don't 
 seem to care a hang whether he's found out or 
 not." 
 
 It was supper time when he reached home; 
 and, first hiding the money in the stable, he went 
 into the house. At the table his grim-visaged 
 uncle, after eyeing him for a moment, said: 
 "Well, sir, what have you been doing at school 
 to-day ? " 
 
 "Nothing," he answered shortly, but with a 
 sinking heart. 
 
 " Mr. Clark was here half an hour ago looking 
 for you. He didn't tell me what you'd done, 
 but you've been up to some devilment, I'll be 
 bound. I promised your fool mother " 
 
 14
 
 THE AGE OP STONE 15 
 
 Dick turned white, and jabbed viciously at his 
 food. 
 
 "I've done nothing, sir," he said slowly, "and 
 the time will come when you'll find it wise to 
 stop calling my mother a fool." 
 
 "That will do that will do," returned his 
 uncle, raising a monitory forefinger. 
 
 Dick subsided. There was no love lost between 
 uncle and nephew, though the mild and patient 
 old aunt beside him had always been kind to the 
 boy. Dick had been thrashed through boyhood, 
 and had only escaped it lately by the peculiar 
 way in which he had taken the last, six months 
 before. He had received a harsher beating than, 
 perhaps, his uncle had meant to give him. It was 
 the first time that he had not begged off and wept 
 under punishment, and this possibly prolonged 
 it. All that evening, forbidden to leave the house, 
 he had sat with his elbows on his knees, answer 
 ing sullenly when spoken to, and staring fixedly 
 at his uncle with eyes that flamed green. He 
 was ordered about, from one chair to another, 
 by the uneasy man, and at last sent to bed, where 
 the gentle old aunt followed and cried over him. 
 Then it was that the green left his eyes, and the 
 tiger-cub became a boy again, sobbing convulsively 
 in his aunt's arms. 
 
 The next evening his uncle listened to the 
 following dispassionate words from the now normal
 
 16 MASTERS OP MEN 
 
 Dick: "I've seen mother's lawyer. If you lay 
 the weight of your finger on me again, he will 
 apply to the courts for a new guardian." And 
 there was that in the boy's face which impressed 
 the uncle. He had often threatened him since 
 then, but never attempted punishment. 
 
 Dick had a very slight remembrance of his 
 mother, but none whatever of his father a naval 
 officer lost at sea. He was an infant in arms 
 when this had happened, and just able to walk 
 when his mother had brought him to her elder 
 brother's house the house that she had left, 
 against his wish, to marry the impecunious man 
 who had won her. And here she had wept away 
 her beauty, then her life. And there were some 
 that followed her to the grave who averred that 
 she had died in self-defence to escape the never- 
 ending recapitulation of her fault the ceaseless, 
 monotonous variations of "I told you so" dealt 
 to her by her brother. And later, on occasions 
 when the boy, screaming under the lash, could 
 be heard a block away in all directions from his 
 uncle's barn, these neighbours indignantly declared 
 that he was being slowly killed for the money 
 left to him in trust. But these remarks, born 
 solely of sympathy, had little credence or circula 
 tion. Though as unpleasant and parsimonious 
 a character as the village contained, the uncle 
 bore a well-proven reputation for integrity which
 
 THE AGE OF STONE 17 
 
 stood him in lieu of kindlier elements of mind. 
 Family pride, no doubt, contributed largely to 
 this fundamental honesty, as it certainly did to 
 his resentment at his sister's marriage against his 
 wishes, and to his later desire that her son should 
 be properly reared. He was prouder of his name 
 than of his wealth prouder still of himself; 
 and his townsmen, knowing this and disliking 
 him personally, had elected him town treasurer 
 year after year, and would unhesitatingly have 
 accepted his mere word of promise in any money 
 transaction. 
 
 When Dick had finished supper he put on his 
 hat and left the house. It was late in the even 
 ing when he found Georgie and ran him down 
 as a wolf runs a deer. There was argument 
 and persuasion on his side, with a picture of 
 Mabel's grief and shame if the theft was known 
 and there was jeering and defiance from Georgie ; 
 then there was highway robbery and separation, 
 and Dick, with a key in his pocket and a bump 
 on his head from the impact of a " rock," a 
 supply of which Georgie seemed to carry in his 
 pocket, went home to bed. 
 
 In the morning he was up early and off to 
 school with the money in his pocket, thankful, as 
 he climbed the stairs, that the janitor was busy on 
 the ground floor ; and that there was still fifteen 
 minutes before the first bell would ring, giving
 
 18 MASTERS OF MEN 
 
 him plenty of time. There was no one in the 
 room as he entered ; he approached the principal's 
 table, inserted the key, and found that it worked 
 unevenly, proving that it did not belong to the 
 lock; but at last it turned. He opened the 
 drawer, placed the money in the corner where 
 the principal had lodged it, shut and locked the 
 drawer and turned to look into the grave face 
 of Mr. Clark, who was coming out of the class 
 room back of the stage. 
 
 " So," he said, slowly and sadly, " you became 
 frightened when you heard that I called, and 
 decided to put it back. I expected you. Did 
 you return it all ? " 
 
 " It's all there," answered Dick, weakly ; then 
 realizing his position, he went on hotly, " I'm no 
 thief I didn't steal that money." 
 
 " Take your seat, sir." 
 
 Dick obeyed, and Mr. Clark opened the drawer 
 with his own key and counted the bills. Then 
 seating himself he began writing, and Dick, 
 wildly trying to formulate his defence, knew, with 
 the prescience of the condemned, that the writing 
 was for his uncle's eyes. And how could he clear 
 himself? It seemed that nothing but a direct 
 accusation of Georgie and a truthful statement 
 of fact would answer now ; yet he hesitated to 
 make public his motive to tell of his new 
 friendship and promise to a girl such a ridicu-
 
 THE AGE OF STONE 19 
 
 lous promise, too. But when Mabel came in and 
 smiled as she passed to her seat, his wavering 
 resolution was strengthened. He would clear 
 himself, somehow, but he would not stab her 
 through the brother she loved.
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 
 THE last bell rang, the school assembled, and 
 after the opening exercises and subsequent 
 buzzing and shuffling of books, Mr. Clark tapped 
 his bell louder than usual and the hubbub 
 ceased. The principal was a tall, spare man, and 
 his kindly face was unusually stern. 
 
 " Before we open school this morning," he began 
 in his slow, steady voice, "we will dispose of a 
 matter that demands immediate attention. You 
 all know about the fund contributed by the boys 
 for the eleven's new suits. It is a matter in no 
 way connected with your studies ; but the theft of 
 that money has a vital connection with the school, 
 and I am compelled to take action. "We have a 
 thief among us. The last instalment of the fund 
 was contributed yesterday noon by Richard Hal- 
 pin Richard Halpin, come forward." 
 
 White in the face, Dick arose and advanced to 
 the front. 
 
 "Richard Halpin," continued the principal; 
 "you saw where I placed the money yesterday 
 noon. After school you returned, unlocked the 
 drawer with a key of your own, left the build 
 ing, and ran through the back gate and across 
 
 20
 
 THE AGE OF STONE 21 
 
 the vacant lots. I saw you from the window of 
 my house down the street. That afternoon I 
 visited the school and noted the absence of the 
 money. I called at your home and waited for 
 you until nearly supper-time, hoping to induce 
 you to make amends by confessing and by re 
 turning the money then; as you did not come, 
 I went home. However, my visit must have 
 become known to you, and you were frightened. 
 I came to school early this morning and saw 
 you return the money to the drawer. Had you 
 admitted your guilt, I should have talked it 
 over with you, but you brazenly denied it." 
 
 " I deny it again," declared Dick, bravely ; " you 
 saw me running because I wanted to catch up 
 with the boys, and I went cross-lots, too ; I had 
 come back for my swimming-trunks." 
 
 "You were going in swimming with other 
 boys? What boys?" 
 
 " Some of the big fellows we were going up 
 to the swimming-hole." 
 
 " Name the boys you went in swimming with." 
 The principal reached for paper and pencil. 
 
 " I didn't go in with them. They didn't wait. 
 I went in alone. They said afterward that they 
 didn't go in." 
 
 " They said so ? Do you know this ? Did you 
 see any boys at all, up there ? " 
 
 Dick could not understand how the whereabouts
 
 22 MASTERS OF MEN 
 
 of himself or the boys bore on the case, but he had 
 no reason to tell anything but truth about the trip 
 up the river, so he answered : 
 
 " Didn't see anybody till I got back, but I found 
 Tom Allen's knife, and the place was all wet so 
 some one was there." 
 
 " Tom Allen," repeated the teacher, writing the 
 name down. " Who else was in the party which 
 started ? " 
 
 "Will Simpson, Tom Brandes " 
 
 The door burst open, and into the room stormed 
 a big man with a whip in his hand and mud on 
 his boots. There was anger in his sun-burned face, 
 and around him was the atmosphere of horses and 
 cattle. 
 
 "Got 'em yet, Mr. Clark this one of them?" 
 He advanced on Dick, who retreated into an aisle, 
 realizing dimly as he went that trouble was brew 
 ing for others as well as himself. 
 
 " No, no, Mr. Bronson," said the principal ; " be 
 seated, please. This is not one of the boys you 
 want, but he has been a valuable witness. Take 
 a chair, sir, until I dispose of this boy's case ; then 
 we will investigate. Were there any others ? " he 
 said to Dick. "Name the rest with whom you 
 started up the river. Come forward here." 
 
 Dick stepped out of the aisle, watching the big 
 farmer seat himself, and said quietly : " I don't 
 know what's happened, Mr. Clark, but I'm not
 
 THE AGE OF STONE 23 
 
 going to say any more about the crowd. If 
 they've done anything, it's not my business to 
 give 'em away." 
 
 " You will not name the rest of the boys 1 " 
 
 " No, sir." ' 
 
 "Very well. Go to your seat, pack up your 
 books, and leave the school. You are expelled, 
 pending the action of the board, which will 
 probably confirm your expulsion." 
 
 " Is this all, sir," asked Dick, uneasily. " Have 
 I no chance to say anything ? " 
 
 " What do you wish to say ? " 
 
 " I say I did not take that money." 
 
 " Come. To convince you of the uselessness of 
 further denial, I will confront you with the boy 
 who saw you take the money, and who reported 
 the theft to me. George Arthur, step forward." 
 
 This young man left his seat and approached, 
 while Dick watched in amazement. George 
 Arthur was a peculiarly handsome boy curly- 
 haired and bright-eyed. Halting in front of the 
 school, he half turned, and with his hands down 
 his pockets and legs wide apart, pursed his lips 
 into an expression of fifteen-year-old virtue. 
 
 " Tell the school the story you told me at my 
 house." 
 
 "I came back," said the boy, in a monotone, 
 facing the scholars, " to get my knife which I left 
 in the g'ography class, and I saw Dick Halpin
 
 24 MASTERS OF MEN 
 
 from the recitation room. He took the money, 
 and I came out and told him I'd tell on him, and 
 he wanted me to go halves and keep still, but I 
 wouldn't and ran out, and he followed, telling me 
 to wait and take half, but I said I wasn't a thief 
 and I went over to Mr. Clark's house and told 
 him." 
 
 " You lie," yelled Dick. 
 
 "Silence," thundered the principal; but Dick 
 was past taking orders. It was a very red boy 
 in red knickerbockers whom he was pursuing 
 down aisles and over red desks and red boys 
 and girls, and he wanted to catch him. A dark- 
 eyed girl screamed, and others followed suit. 
 Scholars left their seats, some to get out of 
 Dick's way, others the larger boys to head 
 him off. Georgie was agile and cleared desks 
 easily; close after came the enraged Dick, and 
 behind, through the aisles, a conglomerate surg 
 ing mob headed by the principal. But at last 
 Dick was tripped, collared by Mr. Clark and 
 marched to his seat. 
 
 "Take your books, sir, and go," panted the 
 angry principal. 
 
 "I won't till I've had my say," cried Dick, 
 struggling. "Let go of me. He stole that 
 money himself I saw him. He tells the very 
 story I could have told if I was a sneak. He's 
 the thief."
 
 THE AGE OF STONE 25 
 
 Chivalry went to the winds. This was beyond 
 his limitations, and all the promises to all the 
 sisters in the world could not seal his lips ; he was 
 too insanely angry. Then, over in the front rank 
 of the girls, he saw Mabel, with her arms about 
 her brother, looking at him with horror in her 
 face. The shock did him good. 
 
 " Let me get out, Mr. Clark. I'll go. Let me 
 get my books," he said quietly. 
 
 "Go," said the principal sternly, "and if you 
 have a case, take it to the school board." 
 
 He released him, and Dick packed his books, 
 while the agitated scholars slowly resumed their 
 seats, those who sat near Dick waiting until he 
 had marched up the aisle and out of the door. 
 
 Mr. Clark resumed his position in front of the 
 school. Taking up the list of names from his 
 table, he read off, in a voice which boded ill for 
 hesitaters and halters, the names given him by 
 Dick. " Come forward, all of you," he said. The 
 three boys ranged themselves before him. 
 
 " You have seen, young gentlemen," began Mr. 
 Clark, as he eyed them sternly, "the futility of 
 denying a guilty action. Let me advise you. 
 Tell the truth manfully ; own up to what you 
 have done. Yesterday afternoon Mr. Bronson 
 saw you going down over his land to your swim 
 ming-place. He called on me last evening and 
 asked me to identify you; for, while there, you
 
 26 MASTERS OF MEN 
 
 caught his yearling colt, and tied a bush to his 
 tail. Then you laughed and shouted while the 
 colt ran himself to death. A prompt admission 
 will no doubt save you from arrest and leave the 
 matter to be settled by your parents. I speak 
 as your friend and to spare my school the dis 
 grace. Do you admit this? And will you give 
 the names of the others?" 
 
 There was admission in their faces. Not expect 
 ing the sudden turn of events, they had arranged 
 no concerted denial. 
 
 "We've got to admit it, I suppose, sir," said 
 Will Simpson at last, " but we're not bound to 
 give others away. At least I won't." 
 
 " That will do ; go to your seats. This must be 
 settled out of school." The principal added more 
 writing to the list and turned to the farmer. " Mr. 
 Bronson," said he, " here are the names of these 
 three, and the addresses of their parents." 
 
 The farmer took the list, nodded his thanks, and 
 left the building. 
 
 Then school opened for the day, but little prog 
 ress was made in studies.
 
 CHAPTER Y 
 
 AFTER school that noon four boys, with 
 gloom in their souls, mustered under a tree 
 on the ball-ground. Not one cared to go home 
 to a dinner which might be seasoned with parental 
 rebuke; so they lounged on the grass, kicking 
 their heels, nibbling grass-bulbs, and occasionally 
 commenting on the hopeless outlook. 
 
 As they lay there, Pig Jones joined them and 
 offered sympathy and advice ; then Dick Halpin 
 came climbing over the fence at the other side 
 of the field. Swinging his books by the strap, 
 he slowly approached the group under the tree. 
 His lip was swollen and there was trouble in his 
 face ; but he was calm and serious as he ran his 
 eye over the party. 
 
 " I don't know what's up, boys," he began ; "you 
 didn't tell me anything, but if I'd even guessed 
 that anything had happened I wouldn't have told. 
 What is it ? " 
 
 " We killed a colt," answered Will, as he rolled 
 over to face him. "We didn't mean to he got 
 away from us. But it wouldn't have been found 
 out if you hadn't had so much to say." 
 
 27
 
 28 MASTERS OF MEN 
 
 "And I wouldn't have had a word to say if 
 you'd put me on to it. But you didn't, and I 
 didn't know. I was trying to clear myself. 
 That's why I told where I was going. I wouldn't 
 give any one away." 
 
 " Yes, you would," sneered Pig Jones. " Even 
 if you were one o' the gang you'd ha' told on the 
 rest. You proved that to-day lyin' 'bout the 
 money you stole." 
 
 " I tell you I wouldn't," answered Dick, angrily ; 
 " and the man who says I stole that money is a 
 liar." 
 
 This was strong language, and too defiant 
 altogether from a boy of Dick's size. 
 
 " I say you stole it," returned Pig. 
 
 " Then you're a liar." 
 
 " I say you stole," said Tom Brandes larger 
 than Pig; Ned Brown repeated it, and Dick, 
 whose face had tightened, answered, " You are a 
 pack of liars, and I can back it up." He dropped 
 his books and flung off his coat ; then Will Simp 
 son, who had not yet joined the allied powers, 
 arose in his dignity. 
 
 " What ? " said he. " Am I a liar ? " 
 
 " If you say I stole that money, you're a liar," 
 stormed Dick. 
 
 " I say you stole it." 
 
 " Then you're a liar." 
 
 There was a flourish and a tangle of fists, and
 
 THE AGE OP STONE 29 
 
 Dick went down. When he arose, his right eye 
 was closing. 
 
 "Want any more?" asked his big antagonist. 
 Dick's reply was a tiger-like pounce. Then they 
 clinched ; but it was disastrous for Dick. He was 
 punched, choked, squeezed, and at last lifted bodily 
 and launched headlong, falling heavily. He was 
 no match for the other, who was unscathed in the 
 shuffle, and before he arose he was kicked by Pig, 
 who yelled, " Give it to him, fellers give it to 
 the thief give it to the tattle-tale." His foot 
 was caught at the second kick by the prostrate 
 boy, and he was thrown ; but before Dick could 
 do more than rise to his feet, Tom Allen asked his 
 opinion of his veracity, and the answer brought 
 another knock-down from Tom. Then, to hurry 
 through a painful duty, they all surrounded him, 
 kicking and pounding. 
 
 " That'll do, now, that'll do," said Will ; " we've 
 killed a colt, and that's enough." 
 
 They walked away. Dick arose to a sitting 
 posture and looked after them ; but there was no 
 green flame in his half-closed eyes ; neither had 
 he seen red during the struggle. These might 
 come later. He had thought, at the last, that he 
 was fighting for his life, and he had even entered 
 the fracas with doubt that was only dominated 
 by his indignation and will. He was now thor 
 oughly subdued, and only in the complete absence
 
 30 MASTERS OF MEN 
 
 of all fear will come the destructive rage which 
 turns all things red. 
 
 It is hardly probable that Pig's sympathy and 
 advice, or his initiative in the prelude of insult 
 had induced the other four to this extremity of 
 action ; they were young and close to Nature, and 
 the species to which they belonged but a few 
 thousand years away from the Age of Stone, when 
 marriage was by capture, and the better warrior 
 was the better wooer, admired by his fellows when 
 successful, clubbed to death before his scornful 
 wife's eyes when wounded or ill. Dick Halpin, 
 by winning and then losing for some had noted 
 her look of horror the favour of the school 
 beauty, had called it into force this second law 
 of Nature; though perhaps not a boy among 
 them would admit, even to himself, that Mabel 
 Arthur was in any way connected with the animus 
 of their assault. But Pig's position was definite 
 he had ' squared up.' 
 
 When they were out of sight, Dick picked up 
 his books and painfully made his way to the river- 
 bank behind the schoolhouse. There he staunched 
 the blood from his nose and bathed his head, which 
 ached and throbbed from his fury of the morning 
 and from the hard knocks it had received. Then 
 he found a shady spot on the bank, and, watching 
 the stream and farm-land beyond, tried to reduce 
 his chaotic thoughts to order.
 
 CHAPTER YI 
 
 " T SEE my finish," he mused. " I'm a thief in 
 JL this town, and I'm kicked out of school 
 can't even get the last exam. ; hammered, too, till 
 I can't see, just for nothing. What ails them all? 
 I did them no harm. They'd have been found 
 out in time. What'll the old man do? Won't 
 believe me any more than Clark did. The young 
 devil 1 Who'd think he had the nerve ? Oh, I'll 
 fix him for this. But that won't help I can't 
 clear myself that way. I'm a thief a proven 
 thief and nothing '11 disprove it but his confes 
 sion. And he won't confess not much. I could 
 choke it out of him, but it wouldn't go. He'd 
 say it was compulsion. Wonder if it would do 
 any good to tell her straight just how it was. 
 She might get it out of him ; but she won't, and 
 if she believed me it would only make her feel 
 bad and she won't believe me, anyhow. Might 
 as well go home no, I can't and won't." 
 
 He waited until the second bell had rung for 
 he did not care to meet the scholars feeling, as 
 the clang of the last stroke dwindled to silence, 
 the curious, nervous sense of liberty and loneli 
 ness which comes to emancipated schoolboys. 
 
 31
 
 B2 MASTERS OF MEN 
 
 Then, when sure that all were within the building, 
 he picked up his books and crossed the lots to the 
 street. Beyond the school he met Mr. Bronson, 
 the farmer whose colt had been killed, driving 
 out in his buckboard. The farmer scrutinized 
 his face, stopped his horse and beckoned. Dick 
 approached. 
 
 " You the boy that got expelled this mornin' ? " 
 
 " Yes, sir." 
 
 " What ails your face ? " 
 
 " Got done up by the boys." 
 
 " What boys ? " 
 
 " The fellows that killed your colt. They laid 
 me out for telling their names before I knew any 
 thing was up." 
 
 " All pile on to you ? " 
 
 "All that could yes; I guess they all got in 
 a kick or two." 
 
 " The young devils ! I'll fix 'em, though. 
 Now, I want the names of all that crowd. 
 You didn't tell all of them. Who were the 
 others ? " 
 
 "You mustn't ask me, sir. I don't feel very 
 bad now about what I said ; but I've no quarrel 
 with them about that matter ; and I don't believe 
 in tattling, anyhow." 
 
 " Well, well, maybe that's right ; but I'll find 
 out, just the same. But say, my boy, tell me 
 squarely. Did you take the teacher's money ? I
 
 THE AGE OF STONE 33 
 
 saw your tantrums at school, and it didn't look 
 like make-believe." 
 
 " I did not take it I saw it taken, and tried 
 to make the little cuss put it back. I had to take 
 it away from him, but I didn't get the key until 
 late that night ; so I had to wait till morning 
 before I could return it. Then I was caught at 
 it, and accused by the very one I was trying to 
 shield." He spoke earnestly ; he wanted some 
 one to believe him. 
 
 " But what did you do it for ? "Why didn't you 
 go and tell Mr. Clark ? " 
 
 "I'm not that kind; I don't tell you the names 
 you want." 
 
 "Different thing. Malicious mischief and cru 
 elty to dumb brutes is bad enough, but stealing is 
 low down. A thief deserves no such considera 
 tion." 
 
 " I promised I told one of his family I'd look 
 out for him a little, and take care of him." 
 
 "Sister?" 
 
 Dick's face showed red between the bruises, 
 and the farmer grinned. 
 
 " So, so," he said ; " well, you're pretty young 
 for that. I reckon you'll pull through all right. 
 So long." 
 
 Dick watched the broad back of the farmer 
 grow small in the distance, then brought his 
 thoughts back to himself and his future. Here
 
 34 MASTERS OF MEN 
 
 was the first practical sympathy which he had 
 received which had crystallized into : " You'll 
 pull through all right. So long." 
 
 "Would he pull through all right ? The retreat 
 ing broad back of the farmer told him plainly 
 that if he did, it would be because of his own 
 effort alone. In a few hours he would be hungry, 
 and when he ate it would be of food furnished by 
 a man who had less sympathy for him than had 
 the farmer. But this man held in trust money 
 which would be his when he was of age how 
 much, he did not know ; he had never inquired. 
 But he would find out; and he would ask the 
 lawyer's advice. 
 
 He walked briskly down the streets to the 
 business section of the town and opened the 
 office door of the lawyer who had settled his 
 mother's estate. A smirking clerk informed him 
 that the lawyer was out of town on business 
 which would keep him away for a month. With 
 gloomy face he sauntered up the streets toward 
 the school, and, while passing a vacant lot, 
 whirled his school-books high in the air over the 
 fence. "With them went his past, and the hopes, 
 plans, friendships, and ambitions which pertained 
 to it. He was no longer a schoolboy, satisfied 
 with praise and a favourable monthly report. The 
 world was before him and against him. 
 
 Yet the habit of years guided his wandering
 
 THE AGE OF STONE 35 
 
 steps to the vicinity of the school from whose 
 thrall he had escaped ; and as he hung over a 
 fence adjoining that of the school grounds, the 
 closing bell sounded from the cupola. The 
 scholars would be out in five minutes. 
 
 Acting on a sudden resolve he placed himself 
 near the girls' entrance, where he knew that every 
 scholar in the three departments except possi 
 bly ball-players or swimmers must pass him ; 
 and he was savagely pleased at the results. He 
 was a peculiarly ugly boy just then scarred, 
 disfigured, and scowling and in a very ugly 
 mood. Also, he held in his hand an ugly, sharp- 
 edged fence-picket for the benefit of any boy who 
 might feel moved to repeat or duplicate the pun 
 ishment of the ball-ground. 
 
 The news of his disgrace had gone through the 
 three departments at recess and at noon. Every 
 one in the school had known Dick Halpin, but 
 none knew him now. Girls, big and little, shied 
 by him with wide-open, curious eyes, as though 
 they were looking at some strange creature which 
 might bite. Small boys acted similarly, and 
 Georgie made a detour across the street, but said 
 nothing. The larger boys glanced unconcernedly 
 at him, and passed dignifiedly by, Pig Jones 
 only giving sign of recognition grimacing first, 
 then dodging a sweeping blow of the fence-picket. 
 But it was Mabel whom Dick was waiting to test,
 
 36 MASTEKS OF MEN 
 
 and down the street the larger boys stopped and 
 watched, equally interested. She came along 
 toward the last, and when she hurried by with 
 the old swift, piercing glance at his face, and 
 turning of her eyes ahead, the heart of the boy 
 tightened, and it seemed to him that the sky was 
 suddenly darker, and the air colder. He laughed, 
 but it was not a pleasant laugh not the mirth 
 of a healthy-minded boy. 
 
 A girl a year or so younger than Dick came 
 flying back from the crowd down the street, her 
 hair streaming behind and her blue eyes glowing 
 with indignation and sympathy. 
 
 " Oh, Dicky," she said, as she placed her hands 
 on his shoulders and looked into his face. "I 
 want to tell you I don't believe it my sister 
 pulled me along, and wouldn't let me speak to 
 you. I just hate that George Arthur; I know 
 you didn't steal it, Dicky. What they been 
 doing to you ? " 
 
 A lump came in his throat and tears to his eyes. 
 "No, Bessie," he said thickly, "I didn't; I told 
 the truth, and I had a fight over the other thing." 
 
 A teacher had come between them. " Come, 
 Bessie, go home." And with a good-night to 
 Dick she went on. 
 
 He shouldered his picket and crossed the street 
 to the ball-ground, where in three minutes he was 
 sobbing his heart out to the grass ; but it was
 
 THE AGE OF STONE 37 
 
 not his trouble that moved him, it was Bessie's 
 sympathy and faith. 
 
 Dick's interview with his uncle at supper-time, 
 though stormy and painful, was the least of that 
 day's troubles. It need not be detailed. "With 
 sneering and scornful upbraiding the narrow- 
 minded old man flourished Mr. Clark's note 
 and overruled Dick's sullen and defiant denial. 
 Through it all Aunt Mollie shed tears, but at 
 tempted no vain mediation. There could be but 
 one ending. An intimation from the angry uncle 
 to the effect that were Dick not his sister's child 
 he would turn him out was promptly met by 
 Dick's declaration that he would save him that 
 trouble he would go when he had finished his 
 supper, which, with the clothes on his back, he 
 considered himself entitled to. 
 
 So, with a kiss and good-by for his agitated 
 aunt, and an unboyish curse for his uncle, Dick 
 Halpin, with two black eyes and a swollen nose, 
 and with nothing in his pockets but a jack-knife 
 and a key neither of which belonged to him 
 went out into the gloom of the evening to face 
 the world.
 
 CHAPTER VII 
 
 WITH his hands in his pockets he trudged 
 through the quiet streets and out into the 
 country road, thinking deeply. His headache 
 was gone, and his sore spots, though still alive, 
 not painful enough to prevent a brisk walk, the 
 most conducive to thought in some temperaments, 
 and he reviewed the happenings of the last two 
 days. So rapidly had events crowded one another 
 that it seemed weeks back when he had walked 
 to school with Mabel Arthur envied of all boys. 
 And viewed in the light of these events, she was 
 more than ever now like a creature of some 
 higher species, or inhabitant of some distant 
 planet, who, without responsibility, had entered 
 his life, done him harm, and left it. But she was 
 still the central figure of his thoughts, taking 
 precedence over the boys who had ill-treated him, 
 the teacher who had misjudged him, the scholars 
 who had snubbed him, and even Bessie and his 
 Aunt Mollie his only friends now. The first 
 was only a "young un" whose good will he had 
 lately won by a timely rescue of her kitten, and 
 the second was so associated with and overshad 
 owed by the disagreeable personality of his uncle 
 
 38
 
 THE AGE OF STONE 39 
 
 that she had failed, with her passive negative 
 temperament, of making any deep or lasting im 
 pression on his mind. As for his uncle, he had 
 ceased almost to think of him, and hoped soon to 
 forget him. 
 
 He would ask Mr. Bronson for work, study in 
 the evening, finish the senior course, and go to 
 New York, where he would get a position in a 
 store, or office, and study law, or medicine, thus 
 getting a better education than the other boys 
 could get in the high school. And when he was a 
 prosperous man, with good clothes and a silk hat, 
 and a gold watch, he would come back to the vil 
 lage and put up at the hotel. And the only people 
 in the whole town whom he would recognize 
 would be Aunt Mollie and Bessie. He would kick 
 George Arthur out of his way if he came in front 
 of him. He would take Aunt Mollie without his 
 uncle's permission and Bessie, out riding, and 
 pass Mabel Arthur on a crossing, where she would 
 have to wait until they passed by. And he 
 wouldn't speak to her or see her at all ; but he'd 
 give her a chance later on to speak to him, if she 
 wanted to, and apologize ; and when she did, he 
 would just lift his silk hat politely, and 
 
 There was a smothered growl in the rear ; then 
 sharp teeth grazed his leg and closed on the slack of 
 his trousers, while he was nearly thrown by the im 
 pact of a bulldog who had come down to the gate.
 
 40 MASTERS OF MEN 
 
 "Hang it," he exclaimed, "even the dogs are 
 down on me." 
 
 He recognized the large frame farmhouse stand 
 ing back in the darkness as that of Mr. Bronson, 
 and he had once enjoyed a passing acquaintance 
 with the dog ; so he spoke to him kindly and 
 firmly. But words count for little with bulldogs 
 on duty, and he tried to kick. The dog dodged, 
 growling the while and gathering in more cloth, 
 until Dick was forced to call for help. The door 
 opened, and in the stream of light far within 
 people stood and peered into the darkness. 
 
 "Call your dog away, please, Mr. Bronson," 
 cried Dick. " I can't shake him off." 
 
 Two men ran down the path and into the road. 
 One was Mr. Bronson, and the other a giant of a 
 man, who lifted the dog in the air with a mighty 
 kick, just as the cloth began tearing. Half of 
 Dick's left trouser-leg went with the dog, who 
 squeaked once, and trotted into the house, still 
 shaking the cloth. 
 
 " It's me, Mr. Bronson," said Dick. 
 
 "By ginger! What's the matter? Turned out, 
 or run away ? " 
 
 " I guess it's both, sir. I can't live home any 
 longer." 
 
 "I know that uncle o' yours. He's a nice old 
 plum. Come into the house, boy, and we'll talk 
 it over."
 
 THE AGE OF STONE 41 
 
 In spite of his protests that his trousers were 
 torn, he was taken into the large kitchen, where 
 Mrs. Bronson, a cheerful-faced woman, stood with 
 the piece of cloth in her hand replevined from 
 the dog and laughed at him. It is given 
 women to laugh at man's calamity. They inherit 
 the tendency with their long hair and the critical 
 faculty, as a sexual characteristic. Observe their 
 uncontrollable risibles on a crowded street when 
 a man falls down, or loses his hat, or makes an 
 undignified jump to save his life. Men do not 
 laugh at the victim. They stop the hat, assist the 
 fallen one to his feet, or mentally anathematize 
 the motorman, and forget the circumstance in a 
 minute. 
 
 But though Mrs. Bronson laughed at him, she 
 hustled him into a bedroom, told him to throw 
 out his trousers for her to mend, and go to bed 
 if he pleased. And Dick was pleased very 
 much. Stretched between cool sheets, he con 
 gratulated himself on the happy end to a hard 
 day, and fell asleep, but wakened soon from his 
 own hard breathing, and because of the talk in 
 the kitchen, which concerned him.
 
 CHAPTER VIII 
 
 IN the few embarrassed moments of his stay 
 in the kitchen he had noticed the big man 
 who had kicked the dog, and recognized him as 
 one he had seen at times through his boyhood 
 swinging along the streets from the station to 
 the country road and back a sunburned man, 
 dressed in the big-collared shirt and wide-bot 
 tomed trousers of the navy, who was reputed to 
 be Mr. Bronson's brother. It was his voice, a 
 deep, rolling barytone, which he heard as he 
 wakened. 
 
 "Can't tell anything about circumstantial evi 
 dence," he was saying. "Things get twisted 
 around mighty curious sometimes, and every 
 thing points to the wrong man. On that chance 
 alone I should say that the kid didn't take the 
 money. That's a smart boy too smart to put 
 back anything he'd lifted." 
 
 "But he was seen taking it," said Mr. Bron 
 son's voice. "Another boy saw him and told; 
 that's why he put it back." 
 
 " Yes, and tells a likely yarn, too, you say ; and 
 this one tells an unlikely yarn. Consequently, 
 
 I'm with him ; I'm on the other side of circum- 
 
 42
 
 THE AGE OF STONE 43 
 
 stantial evidence or positive evidence where 
 there's an object in making it. If t'other kid 
 stole it he couldn't ha' got out of it nicer. Down 
 in the navy yard, on the Trenton, Sam Davis, one 
 of the 'prentice boys, finished his time and got his 
 discharge and money. He was a likely youngster 
 and had got up to be captain o' the mizzentop, so 
 he had a good boodle due him 'bout two hun 
 dred. Well, he'd shaken hands all 'round after 
 breakfast, and was just going out the gangway 
 port when something caused him to reach in and 
 feel of his munk-bag little leather bag we carry 
 our money in when we have any, you know 
 and there was nothing in it. So, some one had 
 it, sure. He fired his bag and hammock in on 
 deck and swore he wouldn't quit the ship till he 
 got it. It was there when he turned in night be 
 fore, he said, because, though he admitted being 
 three-sheets-in-the-wind when he came aboard, he 
 was straight enough to make sure of his money 
 'fore he went to sleep. Well, the officers took up 
 the case and called all us mizzen- and main-top men 
 to quarters while the chief master-at-arms went 
 through our dunnage. They found the roll in 
 my hammock 'tween the mattress and canvas. 
 Then they made me turn out my pockets and 
 found a pocket-piece a Japanese ten sen 
 which Sam thought a good deal of and never 
 let go out of his hands. So the thief which
 
 44 MASTERS OF MEN 
 
 was me, 'cording to the evidence had gone 
 through his pockets as well as his munk-bag 
 while he was sleeping off his drunk." 
 
 "You ought to be ashamed to sit there and 
 tell it, Ned Bronson," said Mrs. Bronson's voice. 
 
 " I didn't take it. I'd borrowed his knife day 
 before and returned it. The coin must ha' stuck 
 'tween the blade and handle and dropped out in 
 my pocket without either of us knowing it. It 
 was a penknife, not the big lanyard knife. Well, 
 I had a good record, and swore black and blue 
 that I was innocent, and even Sam didn't like 
 to believe it, so they didn't put me in the brig, 
 but let me sling my hammock in the old place, 
 and that night Sam himself cleared me. He had 
 skipped out with his dunnage, got full again, for 
 got that he was out o' the old ship, and that night 
 sneaked aboard, and the gun-deck corporal stowed 
 him under a gun carriage for the night. 'Bout 
 an hour later he caught him fooling 'round my 
 hammock trying to stow his wad of bills under 
 my mattress. He was sounder asleep than I was, 
 and I'm a pretty sound sleeper. Corporal re 
 ported it in the morning, and it cleared me." 
 
 " Oh sleepwalking." 
 
 " Yup and whiskey. A man'll do things 
 when he's drunk that he won't remember till he 
 loads up again. I tell you, circumstantial evi 
 dence is no good."
 
 THE AGE OF STONE 45 
 
 " I believe it was all made up between you and 
 your friend Sam," said Mrs. Bronson. " You're a 
 bad lot, you sailor men." 
 
 "Circumstantial evidence is no good, I tell 
 you." 
 
 " 'Tain't conclusive, I admit," said Mr. Bronson, 
 " but it's a help. That boy in there knows the 
 names that I need to make up my list. That's 
 all I want of him." 
 
 " He's too bright a boy, anyhow, to stagnate 
 around this blasted old town. Send him down 
 to the Minnesota, and I'll make a sailor of him. 
 I like that boy ; he showed nerve with your d d 
 dog, and he's got character. Bet you don't get 
 any information out o' him." 
 
 Dick listened no more. His mended trousers 
 were inside the door, and he dressed himself. 
 Stepping into the kitchen, he confronted the two 
 men smoking at the table. Mrs. Bronson had 
 disappeared. 
 
 " I wasn't asleep, Mr. Bronson," he said, " and 
 I heard." He spoke unevenly, for there was a 
 lump in his throat. Turning to the other, who 
 was regarding him with an amused look in his 
 brown face, he said : 
 
 " You are right, sir ; I'll tell on nobody. All I 
 want is a place to work and sleep. Do they have 
 boys of my size in the navy ? " 
 
 " Lots o' them. Want to enlist ? "
 
 46 MASTERS OF MEN 
 
 "Yes, sir, I do; I think I would 'like it. My 
 father was a naval officer." 
 
 " It's a tough life, and it makes a machine of a 
 man ; but as I understand your case it's about the 
 best thing you can do. Are you healthy ever 
 have fits ? " 
 
 "I'm as healthy as I can be. No, I never had 
 fits yet." 
 
 " Can you climb ? " 
 
 " I can climb trees." 
 
 " Can you keep your temper when you feel like 
 murder ? Can you grip your tongue 'tween your 
 teeth when a young pup just out o' the naval 
 academy calls you a swab, and a soger, and a 
 farmer ? " 
 
 Dick swiftly reviewed the day's ordeals, and 
 answered : " I could if I had to, sir." 
 
 " You'll have to, never fear. Got any money ? " 
 
 " No, sir not a cent." 
 
 " Well, I'll tell you. You can hoof it to New 
 York, and starve by the way, but 'taint necessary. 
 Fare's eighty cents, and guardian fee's a dollar. 
 I'll go a dollar eighty on you. I'm guardian to 
 three young rapscallions down there now. You'll 
 ship as third-class boy, at nine a month and ra 
 tions, but you'll only get liberty money until your 
 time is up when you are of age. By that time 
 you'll have seen something of the world, and can 
 make a better start in life, or ship over again, if
 
 THE AGE OF STONE 47 
 
 you like it. You can pay me the dollar eighty 
 in instalments out of your liberty money. 
 
 " Bill," he said to the farmer, " let this boy stop 
 here till his face gets in shape again, and if I'm 
 gone then, send him down to the ship. I'll leave 
 you the money." 
 
 " Well, all right. But say, youngster, I'll give 
 you the money I'll make it two dollars if you 
 give me the names of the other boys." 
 
 " No, sir. I'm obliged to Mrs. Bronson, but I'd 
 rather walk out." 
 
 "All right, all right," said the farmer, impa 
 tiently. " I'll get 'em. Go to bed again. Good 
 luck to you."
 
 CHAPTER IX 
 
 A WEEK later Mabel Arthur was handed a 
 package addressed to her at the post-office. 
 It contained a key, and a letter which she read, 
 and then, hurrying home, read again after supper, 
 in her room. It ran as follows : 
 
 "U.S.S. MINNESOTA, SEPT., 1893. 
 
 "Miss Mabel Arthur: Here is the key which your 
 brother used to open Mr. Clark's desk that day you 
 asked me to look out for him. It was because I said I 
 would that I did not want to give him away. So I took 
 the money away from him, but he had the key, and late 
 that night I took the key away from him, all because 
 I promised you. You know how I was caught putting 
 the money back next morning ; but you believed I stole 
 it the same as all the others did. I did not take it, 
 but I wanted to keep my promise to you. I loved you, 
 and you are not worth powder to blow you up. 
 " Yours truly, 
 
 "RICHARD HALPIN. 
 
 " P. S. I've shipped in the navy, and you will never 
 see me again." 
 
 Mabel folded the letter, and idly tapping the 
 window-sill with the key, watched the details of 
 the garden without disappear in the gathering 
 
 darkness ; then she arose and approached an old- 
 
 48
 
 THE AGE OF STONE 49 
 
 fashioned writing-desk, to put the letter away. 
 There was no key in the lock, and almost involun 
 tarily she inserted the one in her hand ; it turned 
 the bolt easily. She lighted the gas, and with 
 eyes that were large with growing terror, exam 
 ined the key. It was old-fashioned as the desk, 
 but told her nothing. She examined every key 
 hole in the room. They all contained keys, which, 
 one by one, she tried in the desk ; but none would 
 turn the lock but the first. She opened the desk, 
 and carefully blotting out with ink the lines de 
 claring Dick's sentiments and his estimate of her 
 value in powder, threw herself face down on the 
 bed. 
 
 An hour later her brother's whoop on the street 
 without told of his arrival for the night, and when 
 he entered the house she called him into her room. 
 Fifteen minutes later she called her father from 
 the library, and five minutes after she was in the 
 street with the key and letter in her hand, speed 
 ing toward the residence of Mr. Clark and stop 
 ping her ears against a harrowing sound a 
 sound which brought neighbours out of doors and 
 caused many a jocular comment over the fence, a 
 boy's wailing screams punctuated by the sharp 
 thwack of a trunk strap. 
 
 Neither she nor her brother attended school 
 again ; but on the following morning Mr. Clark, 
 with a troubled face, addressed the scholars, and
 
 50 MASTERS OF MEN 
 
 announced the complete exculpation of Richard 
 Halpin from the offence with which he had been 
 charged, by the confession of the real culprit, 
 whose name he saw no occasion to divulge. He 
 added a few moral reflections concerning the peril 
 of too hasty conclusions based upon the outward 
 seeming of things, and warned them of the folly of 
 yielding under adverse pressure, as Richard Halpin 
 from a lack of moral stamina had yielded, to the 
 extent of embracing, openly and brazenly, disgrace 
 ful fighting, he had attacked his schoolmates, it 
 seemed, and, as had become known next morn 
 ing, running away from home. However, if any 
 of the scholars should happen to know where he 
 was, it would be advisable to let him know of his 
 exoneration.
 
 BOOK II 
 THE A an OF IRON 
 
 CHAPTER X 
 
 r I iHERE was smothered excitement throughout 
 JL the ship. A boy had run up the gun-deck 
 main-hatch ladder three steps at a time, dodged 
 forward and mounted the fore-hatch ladder to the 
 spar-deck at the same speed; then he had sped 
 to the closed-in space on the forecastle. Another 
 boy had followed, then another; and there was 
 that in their faces to induce men and boys loung 
 ing on the deck and sitting in ports to close books 
 with a snap, to put away sewing-gear, or hurriedly 
 finish tasks they had " sogered " at, and join the 
 scattering streams of blue-jackets crowding up 
 from the decks below. 
 
 Ensign Breen, officer of the deck, shivering at 
 the gangway in a closely buttoned overcoat, saw 
 the commotion and mustering of men and boys, 
 and turned his back. He was a young man, not 
 twenty-four, with a pleasant face, as brown as a 
 Caucasian's may become nearly as brown as his 
 hair and cheery eyes ; for he was just back from 
 
 a tropic station, and had not yet bleached out or 
 
 51
 
 52 MASTERS OF MEN 
 
 grown accustomed to the wintry chill of this navy- 
 yard berth. 
 
 " Who is it this time, Quartermaster? " he asked 
 of a big man who stood near him. 
 
 " Don't know both, sir," answered the Quarter 
 master, touching his cap ; " but one of 'em's my 
 boy. He's lickin' all hands as fast as they'll 
 take it." 
 
 " What's his name ? " 
 
 " Halpin, sir ; apprentice. He's one of the 
 Maine's crowd. I'm his guardian." 
 
 " Halpin ? I've noticed him. What's his grudge 
 against all hands?" 
 
 " No grudge, sir. But you see, when he shipped 
 four years ago, he was an under-built little runt, 
 and every small scrapper in the ship who could 
 box thought it right and proper to soak Dick 
 because he was a red-head. He'd fight 'em, but 
 always got done up, until the cap'n o' the hold, 
 and a few more of us, noticed his quick movements, 
 and trained him in boxing. Then came his turn, 
 and he had all the fun. He was cock-o'-the-vvalk 
 'fore he went to Newport. He isn't quarrelsome, 
 sir ; but there's a lot o' strange men in from the 
 Southern Station, and the buckoes among 'em 
 don't know Dick, and he looks so soft and inno 
 cent that they begin rubbing his fur wrong way, 
 and then they get surprised." 
 
 The young officer smiled, and he looked at his
 
 THE AGE OF IRON 53 
 
 watch. It was the first dog-watch, and there was 
 twenty minutes before the time for the next dis 
 turbance of the ship's company mess formation. 
 
 " Bronson," he said in a tone that the orderly 
 and messenger boy at the gangway could not hear, 
 "go forward and watch it unofficially. Report 
 the result to me. Don't let it go too far, though." 
 
 " Very good, sir," answered the quartermaster, 
 with a grin. He left the bridge, went forward 
 and crowded his way into a circle of fully a hun 
 dred men and boys surrounding two who, stripped 
 to undershirts, were resting after a round, and lis 
 tening to advice from their seconds. One was 
 Dick Halpin, twenty years old, five feet ten inches 
 in height, square shouldered, full-chested, with his 
 freckles drowned in darker tan, and his hair 
 changed by the action of the sun and wind to a 
 color which might be called coppery, but never 
 red. It was uncut and wavy, too long for a 
 landsman careful of his personal appearance, but 
 it formed an agreeable border to his sunburned 
 face, and harmonized peculiarly with his gray 
 eyes. 
 
 His antagonist was taller and heavier and 
 slower, as evidenced by his well-marked face and 
 hard breathing. The fight, short as it had been, 
 was nearly finished when Bronson arrived. As he 
 elbowed his way to the front rank of excited and 
 whispering onlookers, time was called, and the
 
 54 MASTERS OF MEN 
 
 combat resumed. The larger roan struck wildly 
 and heavily, making no effort to guard ; but not 
 a blow reached the agile, writhing, whirling body 
 of the other, who dodged and ducked, sprang for 
 ward and back, planting light, stinging, and exas 
 perating taps on his face and breast with almost 
 the quickness of a rattlesnake's stroke smiling 
 through it all. Three times Dick circled around, 
 then, seeing an opening in the lax guard of his 
 tired opponent, he sent his right fist, with the 
 weight of the body behind, squarely under his ear. 
 The impact lifted the man, large as he was, off his 
 feet, and he fell heavily to the deck. Time was 
 called as he began to move. 
 
 A pent-up hubbub broke loose. The enthusi 
 asm, though softly expressed, was genuine and 
 heartfelt. Boys surrounded Dick and shook 
 hands, glad of the privilege. Bronson clapped 
 him on the back with a force that made him 
 wince, and then disappeared. " Bully for Dick 
 Cock-o'-the-walk now, hey, Dick," said the boys. 
 " Dick's a Greco-Romo-Boxo-wrastlo Dick'll be 
 Jimmy Legs yet no, he won't not over two 
 hours he'd be disrated Dick, you want to do 
 up Jimmy Legs next ; he got me two hours guard 
 duty go for him, Dick." A small boy, the pet 
 scamp of the ship, dragged a larger boy up to 
 Dick and said : 
 
 "Lick my brother for me, Dixie. He's too
 
 THE AGE OF IRON 55 
 
 fresh. Lick him, and I'll be your clerk and cut 
 the notches. Dick's got a stick full o' notches." 
 And Dick, putting on his shirt, smiled, but said 
 nothing. 
 
 The defeated one painfully arose to his feet and 
 the crowd pushed them together. Dick extended 
 his hand. 
 
 "It's all right, Halpin," said the other as he 
 took it. "You've done me up fair and square; 
 and I knew you were workin' up to it knew it 
 four years ago." 
 
 " No, Billson, you're wrong. I'm working up, 
 yes; but not for you. I never held a grudge 
 against any one in the navy or against any one 
 who'd fight fair. I only thought you and I ought 
 to have it out." 
 
 " It's all right, Dick ; I guess you're best man 
 aboard now." 
 
 "Best man," laughed Dick; "Bronson could 
 shut his hand on the pair of us." 
 
 The crowd was dispersing, and Dick descended 
 to the gun-deck where he belonged, while Billson 
 sought the galley and the cook's ministrations 
 toward the improving of his damaged counte 
 nance. Fighting, though against the written and 
 spoken rules of the service, is generally winked at 
 in a ship holding five hundred men and boys, the 
 officers feeling that it is much better for two who 
 disagree to go through a short, sharp, and decisive
 
 56 MASTERS OF MEN 
 
 appeal to fists at the end of which both may 
 shake hands than for one to develop a bullying 
 spirit and the other an unneeded sense of injury. 
 Both are inimical to their efficiency. But though 
 Billson had fought this battle with an animus 
 born of dislike and jealousy, Dick, on the con 
 trary, had entered it with a joke on his lips and 
 a laugh on his face. 
 
 There was a settled, cheerful light in his gray 
 eyes that had not been there in his school-days, 
 as though he felt kindly toward the small world 
 he was conquering. As Bronson had testified, his 
 first days in the training-ship were grievous ones 
 marked by cuffs, kicks, and insults from boys 
 he could pick up and carry until he had learned 
 to defend himself. Then came a hard-fought bat 
 tle with an Irish maintopman, and victory which 
 made the next enemy easier to face. For six 
 months after this, until his transfer to the New 
 port Torpedo Station, his dog-watches were spent 
 either in boxing practice in the forehold, or in 
 settling disputes of the day on the forecastle. 
 
 He had easily passed the final examination in 
 the ship's school when he enlisted, but this did 
 not deprive him of his love of books or of his 
 studious habits. He became almost a daily pa 
 tron of the ship's library, and in the only compul 
 sory studies, seamanship and gunnery, he advanced 
 rapidly, tutored by his friend and guardian, Bron-
 
 THE AGE OF IRON 57 
 
 son. He had boxed the compass in one lesson, 
 had stationed a gun-crew in two, and had learned 
 the parts of the ship and the knots and hitches 
 used in lashing hammocks and housing awnings 
 in a week. He also learned things not prescribed 
 by the regulations, such as the tricks necessary in 
 the navy to escape unpleasant duty. The differ 
 ence between the apothecary's clerk and the ex 
 ecutive officer, and the minimum of respect which 
 would satisfy the latter, he had learned in one 
 harrowing interview. But at the end of a month 
 he applied for examination, and became a second- 
 class apprentice with a new bag and hammock- 
 number, which transferred him from the after 
 guard to the maintop. 
 
 His friction with his mates reacted on his 
 mind, giving him, as he acquired dominion over 
 them, an easy confidence in himself, and decision 
 of speech which brought him local promotion, 
 he was made boy-captain of the maintop. And 
 Dick's rule over the half-hundred boys in the 
 maintop was kindly, yet thorough. He never 
 reported for punishment a boy who refused obe 
 dience to an order; he repeated the order to a 
 second boy, and later on used the first in his fist 
 practice. But he had little trouble of this kind ; 
 his wonderful quickness of motion and growing 
 proficiency with his fists impressed the whole 
 ship's company, and made the majority his
 
 58 MASTERS OF MEN 
 
 friends. Boys liked the genial, composed fellow 
 who would hit them hard with a smile on his face, 
 hit them harder through the consequent fight, and 
 smilingly advise them on their weak points when 
 he had defeated them. There was one boy, how 
 ever, with whom Dick did not, during his proba 
 tionary period, come to satisfactory conclusions. 
 This was Billson, an apprentice, then captain of 
 the forecastle, who, on Dick's bewildering first 
 day on board, had chased him aft with clouts 
 and unkind words. He was the champion boxer 
 among the boys, and Dick had wisely avoided a 
 second meeting until sure of himself ; but before 
 this, had come his transfer to the Newport Tor 
 pedo Station for further instruction in torpedo 
 work and rifled gun practice, and Billson's trans 
 fer to a sea-going cruiser. Six months at New 
 port made Dick a first-class apprentice, and he 
 was sent to the Alliance, sloop-of-war, in which 
 he made a cruise and mastered the sea duties of 
 a sailor in a square-rigged vessel steering, hand 
 ling of sail, sending yards and masts up and down, 
 and the usual boat, fire, and collision drill. Then 
 a year in the big steel cruiser Chicago and another 
 in the new battleship Maine had finished him, 
 and he was back to the receiving-ship Vermont, 
 a passed-seaman apprentice, trained and paid by 
 the government to fight, and to use as weapons 
 fists, clubs, cutlasses, pistols, rifles, machine guns,
 
 THE AGE OP IRON 59 
 
 rapid-fire guns, turret guns, and Whitehead tor 
 pedoes. And here he had found old shipmates of 
 four years ago, among them Bronson and Bill- 
 son, and had polished off the latter at the instiga 
 tion of the former, who loved the boy as he would 
 a son, and whose mind retained a vivid picture 
 painted by Dick of a scene on a ball-ground, 
 where his boy had been kicked about by five 
 others. Bronson often talked of this scene at the 
 petty officers' mess, and hoped fervently that it 
 should be given him to be on hand when that boy 
 returned and met the five. It was to this end 
 that he had arranged for Dick's training in the 
 first days, and had now egged him on to try con 
 clusions with the skilled Billson as a last test of 
 his prowess. 
 
 Dick was not revengeful. The bitterness of his 
 last days at home had long left his mind, but the 
 punishment of those boys had been so thoroughly 
 impressed on his mind as a duty he owed to him 
 self and his calling, that he looked forward to it 
 with the same expectant equanimity that he would 
 toward a coming fight on the forecastle, or a trans 
 fer to another ship. 
 
 As for George Arthur, his fate and punishment, 
 in Bronson's mind, were so clearly a matter for 
 Providence to attend to, that he was seldom 
 thought of.
 
 CHAPTER XI 
 
 DICK had no sooner reached the lower gun- 
 deck after the fight with Billson than the 
 stentorian voice of the chief boatswain's mate 
 came down the hatchway : " Halpin, Halpin 
 pass the word for seaman Halpin to report to the 
 officer of the deck." 
 
 The cry was taken up and repeated, echoing 
 forward and aft on three decks ; before it had 
 ceased Dick was touching his cap to Mr. Breen. 
 
 " You have been fighting, sir," said the officer, 
 assuming a stern expression of face. 
 
 " Yes, sir." 
 
 " I hear that you are the most quarrelsome 
 character on board that you are continually 
 fighting and abusing your shipmates." 
 
 "I didn't know that, sir," said Dick, soberly. 
 
 " You began when you enlisted, I have heard, 
 to thrash every boy weaker than yourself." 
 
 "No, sir, I did not. They thrashed me all 
 who wanted to. It's very easy to get into a row, 
 sir." 
 
 " And since then you've thrashed them, is that 
 it?" 
 
 Dick noticed a quiver at the corners of Mr. 
 
 60
 
 THE AGE OF IRON 61 
 
 Breen's mouth, and answered boldly, " I just 
 finished the last of that crowd, sir ; we had words 
 this morning over brass work." 
 
 The officer hummed a tune softly while he 
 studied the brown back of Bronson, busily en 
 gaged in looking unconcerned, yet taking in 
 every word. 
 
 " Where is your home, Halpin ? " he asked, after 
 a searching look into Dick's face. 
 
 "I have none, sir; I came from Allville, up 
 near the state line." 
 
 " Allville," repeated the officer, half to himself. 
 "Do you know well, never mind. Halpin," 
 he said earnestly, "quit this fighting. It works 
 against you in the long run. I've noticed you 
 around the decks and have heard good reports 
 of you from the officers of the Maine. I want 
 you for a shipmate. Say nothing to the men, 
 but the New York will want a draft soon. I 
 shall go in her and may be able to have you 
 placed." 
 
 "The New York thank you, sir. I hear it's 
 the Mediterranean." 
 
 "Either that or the South Pacific; but it's a 
 desirable berth." 
 
 " How long before the draft, sir ? " 
 
 " A couple of weeks." 
 
 " Then I'd better apply for my liberty at once, 
 sir. I'm entitled to a week."
 
 62 MASTERS OF MEN 
 
 " Go ahead and be good." 
 
 Dick saluted, and returned to the gun-deck with 
 a very high opinion of Mr. Breen. After supper, 
 when Bronson was off duty, he sought him, and 
 they had a conversation which so affected the 
 big quartermaster that he applied for liberty in 
 the morning and went ashore. When he returned, 
 forty-eight hours later, he was accompanied by 
 two marines from the gate guard, who steered 
 him to the officer of the deck, and reported his 
 misconduct, entering the yard intoxicated, blow 
 ing smoke in their faces, bumping the sergeant's 
 head against a stone wall, and using language dis 
 respectful to the Marine Corps and unbecoming 
 a petty officer of the navy. For which Bronson, 
 though extremely repentant, had his shore leave 
 stopped for a month. 
 
 " And I can't go along, Dick," he groaned. " I 
 can only give my blessing." 
 
 And not only his blessing, but sound advice and 
 superintendence did he give, to the result that 
 Dick, who would have journeyed home alone, was 
 induced to take with him an appreciative and 
 enthusiastic squad of youngsters. " Not to stick 
 your oars in," Bronson enjoined upon them, " or 
 to stand in his way ; it's his funeral. You're a 
 guard of honour you're to prevent more than 
 three jumping on him at once." And so, when a 
 liberty crowd of a hundred men and boys marched
 
 THE AGE OF IRON 63 
 
 out of the navy yard a few mornings later, twelve 
 of them waited with Dick outside until the rest 
 had scattered into adjoining streets, then boarding 
 a bridge car, and arriving at the New York side, 
 took the elevated road uptown to the Grand Cen 
 tral Station, where Dick bought excursion tickets 
 for all, and handed them around. They were 
 on three days' liberty. They had been carefully 
 selected on their records from a hundred eager 
 applicants by the discriminating Bronson. They 
 were devoted to Dick, and each felt a respect for 
 himself and his calling based on his training in the 
 service, and a chronic sense of injury which came 
 only of his parentage ; for all but Dick were Irish- 
 born, mulligans, they were called, and Dick 
 himself inherited red hair, which is conducive to 
 latent pugnacity, at least. 
 
 Truly Bronson had chosen wisely. There were 
 Casey, Sullivan, O'Toole, and Devlin, shipmates of 
 Dick on the Maine Shannon and Doyle from the 
 Atlanta; Billson, whose first name was Dennis, 
 from the Chicago ; and Webster, Scanlon, Killroy, 
 Keegan, and Kerrigan from the Miantonomah. 
 All wore the cap ribbons of their last ships ; all 
 were in shirt sleeves, for, the weather being 
 fine, the uniform of the day had not included pea- 
 coats, and all, except Dick, who paid car fare and 
 expenses, were penniless, and for this reason had 
 not been off the Cob-dock for months. Thirteen
 
 64 MASTERS OF MEN 
 
 bronzed, active, muscular young sailors on liberty 
 thirteen unleashed terriers were invading a 
 quiet country town. 
 
 At the station, while waiting for the train, 
 Dick had his first misgivings. Kerrigan would 
 borrow a dollar of him and treat the crowd, 
 and being denied the pleasure, threatened to 
 "shake him," and only changed his mind when 
 he was sternly directed by Dick to " clear out." 
 Then Dick delivered a short lecture in the sta 
 tion on the wisdom of temperance, and ad 
 vised those who would not take orders from 
 him and submit to his management of the job, 
 to stay behind. He would much rather go 
 home alone, he said, as he left town with a good 
 reputation, and was a little ashamed of the com 
 pany he was now in. This, with Dick's known 
 superior education and habitual correctness of 
 speech, impressed them. They reproved Ker 
 rigan, and vowing good conduct and obedience, 
 passed through the gate and boarded the train, 
 which, at one o'clock in the afternoon, landed them 
 at Allville. 
 
 The first thing, of course, was something to eat, 
 and Dick marshalled them across the street and 
 into the dining room of what had been the All 
 ville House, but now, with a new coat of paint 
 and larger sign and barroom, was the Hotel Morri- 
 sey. " Dinner for thirteen," he ordered of a waiter
 
 THE AGE OF IKON 65 
 
 as they seated themselves, " and bring me the bill 
 in advance." 
 
 " Now, boys," he said, as he pocketed the change, 
 "I shall hurry through and find the lay of the 
 land, while you wait here. Understand me no 
 drinking ; you've got no money, but you might be 
 treated. Take cigars." 
 
 They said they would. Dick bolted his dinner 
 and hurried out, passing in the door a red-faced 
 man in an alpaca coat and immaculate shirt-front. 
 This man looked after him as though he would 
 have spoken, then, spying the party at the table, 
 
 bounded toward them. 
 
 t
 
 CHAPTER XII 
 
 DICK passed into the business street of the 
 town, where familiar faces peered at him. 
 But none recognized in the bare-throated, sun 
 burned sailor, swinging along with a man's vigor 
 ous stride, the under-sized, freckled schoolboy who 
 had disappeared under a cloud. On his part, he 
 did not care to make himself known. There were 
 changes, a trolley line had been established, and 
 new buildings replaced some that he remembered. 
 The town had become a city ; a new city hall 
 arose from the park, with a police station on 
 the lower floor; a bright-fronted theatre faced 
 the park on a side street, and next it was a Sal 
 vation Army barracks, while a red brick building, 
 with blue-shirted men lounging in the open door 
 way, through which could be seen a fire engine and 
 hose-cart, testified further to the prosperity of the 
 town. These changes pained him. It was no 
 home-coming to Dick ; he had loved the scenes of 
 his boyhood. 
 
 " Ought to see Aunt Mollie first," he mused, as 
 he reached the resident portion ; " but I won't 
 not till evening. She'd keep me too long. Here's 
 Bessie's street if she still lives there."
 
 THE AGE OF IRON 67 
 
 He was in a side street, and soon reached one of 
 a row of Queen Anne cottages the kind which 
 dominates all others in the suburbs of American 
 cities. There was a brighter, more cared-for look 
 to all of them than there had been, and especially 
 did the one before him indicate the prosperity of 
 its owner. The fence had been removed, flower 
 beds had been laid out on the lawns, showing 
 here and there with the dead grass through shal 
 low snow-banks, while from within came the sound 
 of piano music improvised chords in minor. 
 
 " Bessie had no piano," he said ; " but she liked 
 music. Wonder if the old man's made his pile. 
 I'll see." 
 
 He mounted the steps, opened the door of a 
 storm-house, and touched a button inside. " Elec 
 tric bells," he muttered. 
 
 The music ceased and was followed by the patter 
 of light feet ; then the door swung open and a 
 young lady was facing him a fluffy-haired crea 
 ture with pink-and-white cheeks, who looked at 
 him with wide-open, surprised eyes. 
 
 " Hello, Bessie," he said cheerily ; " how are 
 you ? I've come why, Bessie, don't you know 
 me?" 
 
 "I really " she began doubtfully, while she 
 drew back into the hallway, "I why, Dick 
 Dick Halpin where did you come from ? " 
 
 She advanced with a smile of genuine welcome
 
 68 MASTERS OF MEN 
 
 in her face, and extended her hand. Then she 
 invited him in and seated him in a corner of the 
 parlour and herself in another, where she studied 
 his face, with a half-smiling, half-nervous expect 
 ancy on her own. 
 
 " Anna is at school to-day," she said at last, " and 
 mamma is down town. They'll be home soon; 
 they'll be glad to see you." 
 
 "All right. Now, Bessie, tell me the news. 
 "What's happened ? Going to school yet ? " 
 
 " Yes," she answered demurely. " But I'm home 
 to-day because I expect I expected company. 
 Your class graduates in a few days, and they will 
 have their commencement exercises in the new 
 theatre." 
 
 " Entertainment oratory singing and all 
 that?" 
 
 " Yes, and Will Simpson, you know you re 
 member him is valedictorian." 
 
 " He is, eh um-humph. Where's Tom Allen 
 now, Bessie ? At school ? " 
 
 " Yes ; he graduates too." 
 
 " Tom Brandes and Ned Brown ? " 
 
 " Graduates. But why, what's the matter with 
 them?" 
 
 " One more, Bessie, please. Where's Pig Jones ? " 
 
 " Ran away from home, and nobody knows 
 where he went." 
 
 " Good thank you, Bessie. You're a brick
 
 THE AGE OF IRON 69 
 
 you're a full-powered newspaper and, oh, by the 
 way, where's young Arthur ? " 
 
 "Didn't you hear? He went to the Naval 
 Academy over three years ago. He was sent to 
 a preparatory school just after you left." 
 
 Dick whistled softly. 
 
 " And some time I'll have to take orders from 
 that," he muttered. 
 
 " I'm really grateful, Bessie," he continued seri 
 ously as he arose to go. " I came only on busi 
 ness, and you've helped me tremendously." 
 
 " You came on business," she queried, " and 
 have catechised me as you pleased, but you've told 
 me nothing of yourself. Where have you been 
 all these years ? Did you bring any message ? " 
 
 " Message no, Bessie, who from ? I wanted 
 to see you." 
 
 Without knowing why, Dick saw that she was 
 immensely relieved; she smilingly invited him to 
 sit down again. 
 
 "I'm in a hurry now, Bessie," he answered. 
 " But I'll call again this evening." 
 
 "I haven't invited you to call this evening." 
 His face straightened a little. She saw it and said 
 gently, " You see I have an engagement." 
 
 "Oh, all right; I'll hunt another sweetheart." 
 
 " Yes; then try Mabel again," she said sweetly. 
 " She's a lovely girl now. Nothing like what she 
 was when when she wasn't worth powder to 
 blow her up."
 
 CHAPTER XIII 
 
 DICK'S faced flamed. He had resolutely put 
 Mabel from his mind, and even the mention 
 and thought of her brother bore no relation to the 
 memory he cherished of his boyish regard for her. 
 He would not have spoken of her ; but Bessie had 
 broken his guard, and with the sound of her name 
 came an eager desire to hear of her, which con 
 trasted painfully with his humiliation; for how 
 could Bessie quote from his letter if it had not 
 become public property ? 
 
 " So she showed you that, did she?" he said at 
 last. 
 
 " No, she did not," said Bessie from the depths 
 of a sofa, where she had collapsed in her laughter. 
 "But as my most intimate friend, she quoted to 
 me your opinion of her. Oh, ' I loved you, and you 
 are not worth powder to blow you up.' " And 
 Bessie was again overcome. 
 
 "Well, have it out with yourself, Bessie," he 
 said painfully ; " and then tell me. How is she ? 
 I haven't heard of her since I left." 
 
 Bessie arose and laughed no more. His face 
 forbade it; but she was still woman enough to 
 
 tease him. 
 
 70
 
 THE AGE OP IRON 71 
 
 " She is very well, I believe, and at home now. 
 I may see her to-morrow. "Would you like to send 
 a message by me ? No ? Well, I shall say that 
 I've seen you, anyway. She would be delighted 
 to meet you again, I know. 
 
 "Of course," the girl went on with feminine 
 maliciousness, " Mabel is enormously popular. She 
 came out last year, and she has lawyers, doctors, 
 literary men, artists, well all kinds of men, in 
 her train, with a few millionaires thrown in." 
 
 " And she," he began awkwardly. 
 
 "She well," purred Bessie, "there is Mr. 
 Breen, of the navy have you met him ? " 
 
 " Breen Ensign Breen ? " repeated Dick. 
 
 " Yes, Ensign Breen. She met him before her 
 debut, and his chance should be good. He is a 
 sailor. Her first love letter came from a sailor, 
 and he will get the reflected benefit." 
 
 For the purpose of further tormenting him, 
 Bessie had said too much. Dick knew the pay 
 and marriage value of an ensign, aside from the 
 element of love, which would have reached a defi 
 nite point in less than two seasons. This had 
 flashed through his brain without process of rea 
 son. But what hardened him was the following 
 thought that of the vast social gulf between 
 himself and the ensign, between a sailor before 
 the mast and a commissioned officer. 
 
 "Bessie," he said with a mock courtesy and
 
 72 MASTERS OF MEN 
 
 recklessness born of his conflicting emotions, " were 
 I worthy, I should extend through you my con 
 gratulations to Miss Arthur on her conquest. 
 Were I in a position to advise, I should caution 
 her to beware of naval officers especially ensigns. 
 They do not earn as much as the ship's cook, and 
 their wives take in washing to clothe them." 
 
 " Why, you cannot mean it," said the astonished 
 girl. " Mr. Breen is an ensign, and I know " 
 
 " Ensign Breen," said Dick with fine anarchistic 
 scorn. "Ensign Breen, of the Vermont. Why, 
 Breen killed a Kanaka woman with hasheesh 
 in the Straits of Sunda last cruise but one. 
 Got a wife in 'Fr'isco, two in Antwerp, and a 
 whole harem in the Sandwich Islands. Got 
 knifed in Bio for running a dual establishment ; 
 and he pays alimony in four towns on this coast, 
 and " 
 
 " I don't believe a single word you say." 
 
 She had grown an inch taller. Her eyes were 
 snapping and her finger-nails were buried in the 
 palms of her hands, while her cheeks, but for two 
 little red spots which came and went, were white. 
 
 " Fact, Bessie why, what's the matter ? " 
 
 She threw herself on the sofa and buried her 
 face in the pillow. 
 
 " What's the trouble, Bessie ? " he asked. Then, 
 dimly realizing the truth, he began to explain. 
 
 " I was only joking ; it was all a string of lies.
 
 THE AGE OP IRON 73 
 
 Didn't think what I was saying, Bessie honest. 
 Don't cry any more, now. I'm sorry. I wouldn't 
 make you cry for anything. Mr. Breen's a good 
 fellow one of the best. He's my officer." 
 
 " There must be something," she sobbed ; 
 " you would not dare say such things unless you 
 knew." 
 
 "You mean that where there's smoke there's 
 fire, Bessie? It's all smoke, every bit. You 
 stirred me up, and I didn't care what I said." 
 
 She sat up and dried her eyes, while he sang the 
 praises of Ensign Breen, ascribing virtues to him 
 that would have astonished the young officer had 
 he heard. But Dick, with a sore heart of his own, 
 felt a large and generous sympathy for other ach 
 ing hearts, and an especial interest in Bessie, his 
 only friend in the old trouble, who evidently loved 
 this man. She listened quietly eagerly and 
 at last smilingly. 
 
 " I must go, Bessie," he said, when he felt that 
 he had undone the harm of his thoughtless words. 
 " Mr. Breen and I will go out in the New York. 
 If you like, I'll write you occasionally, and give 
 you the news. Will you answer a letter now and 
 then ? " 
 
 "Why, of course," said the subdued girl; "I 
 shall be glad to hear from you and glad to write 
 to you." And perhaps each knew, without fur 
 ther compact, the kind of news expected of the
 
 74 MASTERS OF MEN 
 
 other. Dick secured his cap and they stepped into 
 the hall. 
 
 " Promise me," she said, as she opened the inner 
 door for him, "that you will not speak of this 
 to Mabel, or to Mr. Breen." 
 
 " Of course I won't, Bessie. Officers don't 
 exchange confidences with blue-jackets, and as 
 for the other we're not acquainted. Good-by, 
 Bessie ; I'll write." 
 
 " Good-by, Dick." 
 
 Her pretty face, with its pleading look not yet 
 supplanted by the coming smile, was close to him. 
 Obeying an impulse, he suddenly passed his arm 
 around her waist. 
 
 " Don't, please don't ! " she cried as she endeav 
 oured to escape ; then, helpless in his strong grasp, 
 she remained passive, while he kissed her. When 
 he looked up he stared into the startled face of 
 Ensign Breen, who, in citizen's clothes high hat, 
 silk-faced top-coat, and all was standing in the 
 outer door. Dick confusedly knuckled his fore 
 head, his cap was on the floor, but the officer 
 ignored him. 
 
 "I beg your pardon, Miss Fleming," said Mr. 
 Breen as he lifted his hat, " but the bell was inside, 
 and I opened the outer door. I am very sorry. 
 Good afternoon." 
 
 He turned and was gone before she could reply. 
 Bessie sank into a hall chair.
 
 THE AGE OF IRON 75 
 
 " Here's a pretty mess," muttered Dick. " Bes 
 sie, I'm sorry, honest, I am ; who would have 
 thought he'd have shown up?" 
 
 " I," she said, rising and pointing to the door. 
 "I expected him. You do not know the harm 
 you have done. Go, and do not come back. Do 
 not write to me or ever speak to me again. I 
 hate you." 
 
 " Well, all right," he answered humbly, picking 
 up his cap ; " I'm sorry, Bessie that's all I can 
 say." 
 
 But she had entered the parlour. He opened the 
 door and passed out, with an opinion of himself 
 that he had never held before. Down the street, 
 just turning the corner, was Mr. Breen, stepping 
 briskly along with the erect, graceful carriage that, 
 somehow, is never acquired but at Annapolis and 
 on American quarter-decks. 
 
 " Going around to call on her, I'll bet," he 
 growled. 
 
 Humiliated and self-reproachful, burning with 
 jealous curiosity, his moral fibre somewhat weak 
 ened, he did what at other times he would not 
 have done. He followed the ensign and saw him 
 mount the steps of the large house he remem 
 bered so well. Then, in a mood which unfitted 
 him for even his own company, he went down to 
 the hotel.
 
 CHAPTEK XIV 
 
 DICK found his men in the barroom, noisy 
 and talkative, surrounded by an admiring 
 crowd of villagers. One glance told him the 
 situation. 
 
 " Hooray here, Dick, me lad," called the red- 
 faced man behind the bar. " I know ye by repu 
 tation. Yer Ned Bronson's best lad, and I'm his 
 best friend. Step up here, Dick, and have one wid 
 me." 
 
 " Thank you," said Dick, savagely ; " I'm not 
 drinking ; " and then, to the others, " I don't need 
 you not a blasted one of you. Breen's in town 
 I've just seen him. Do you want to go in the 
 brig?" 
 
 "It's all right, Dick," they protested. "We 
 had just one apiece. That hurts no one. This is 
 Morrisey's place " 
 
 " As many as can toe a line," interrupted Dick, 
 " I'll use no more. Fall in." 
 
 They formed a line, every pair of toes just touch 
 ing a crack in the floor. 
 
 "Count fours," called Dick. "One," said the 
 first ; the next called two, the next three, the next 
 four ; then they began at one, until the groups of 
 
 fours were numbered. 
 
 76
 
 THE AGE OF IRON 77 
 
 "Twos right inarch! " he called, and as they 
 formed double column and marched through the 
 door, Morrisey whooped and ran for his coat and 
 hat. Dick saw, by the clock over the new city 
 hall, that he had fifteen minutes to spare before 
 the closing bell of the school would ring, and as 
 this time was ample, he marched his guard by 
 roundabout streets, so as to avoid a possible meet 
 ing with Mr. Breen. It was a new spectacle in 
 the town, and soon the sidewalks on both sides 
 in the rear were crowded with a growing throng 
 of boys and a few men and girls. Over the heads 
 of those just behind the parade loomed the stove 
 pipe hat and joyful red face of Morrisey. Dick, 
 sullenly conscious of the interest they had aroused, 
 muttered : " Might as well have brought a brass 
 band as this gang ; but I'll carry it through if we 
 have to clean up the town." 
 
 On the next street was the school. Dick 
 wheeled them around the corner, halting them in 
 open order, a file on each side, with himself at the 
 head. Opposite was the ball-ground ; he could see 
 the tree under which he had been mobbed ; and 
 across the years of his wandering at sea came to 
 his mind in all its early force the wrong and the 
 rage of that last' day, softened only by the warm 
 heartedness of Bessie. Not even his regret for 
 his treatment of her now availed to stem or 
 relieve the overflow of latent fury which the
 
 78 MASTERS OF MEN 
 
 scenes of his humiliation and disgrace set free. 
 He wished that Mr. Clark, who had branded him 
 as a thief, would come out and interfere. He 
 wished that George Arthur could be there, to 
 receive his undivided attention for only a minute, 
 and yes, that his sister, who believed him a 
 thief, could be there to witness. And as for the 
 townspeople behind, if they interfered well, he 
 had twelve " mulligans " to attend to them. 
 
 The bell in the cupola above clanged its dozen 
 strokes and ceased. Then the same old janitor of 
 four years back emerged from the basement stairs 
 at the side and threw open the doors of the girls' 
 entrance. With a curious glance at the two lines 
 of blue, he passed along and opened the entrance 
 for the boys. In a few minutes, laughing, shout 
 ing youngsters of both sexes the junior depart 
 ment emerged and hovered near the sailors, 
 curiosity silencing their noise. Next came the 
 senior department, boys of between thirteen and 
 sixteen, and pretty, graceful girls, most of whom 
 Dick remembered as " young uns " in knicker 
 bockers and short dresses. They passed through 
 and around the waiting blue-jackets with curiosity 
 scarcely less than that of the juniors, and halted 
 with the spectators beyond. Then appeared the 
 high school scholars ladylike young girls and 
 well-dressed young men, who paired off, here and 
 there, and stepped briskly down toward the gaunt-
 
 THE AGE OF IRON 79 
 
 let. They were closely scrutinized by Dick as 
 they passed, but none recognized in the young 
 man at the head of the lines the schoolmate of 
 the past. It was for him to make himself known. 
 He placed himself before a heavily-built young 
 gentleman, in gloves and buttoned overcoat, 
 whose full mustache had almost disguised him. 
 "Stop," he said in a voice that was almost a 
 snarl. "You're Tom Allen, aren't you? Yes 
 Tom Allen. Know me ? No ? You don't know 
 me. I'm the thief and the telltale. I'm Dick 
 Halpin. I'm here to repeat what I told you once 
 before over there on the ball-ground. Tom 
 Allen, you are a liar."
 
 CHAPTEK XV 
 
 "-YTTTHA what? Eh. Hello, Dick. Didn't 
 V T know you. "When d'you get back ? " 
 said Tom, too surprised to comprehend Dick's 
 attitude. 
 
 " That's not the question," answered Dick. He 
 stooped and picked up a sliver of wood from the 
 sidewalk, which he balanced on Tom's shoulder. 
 Then he knocked it off, and as Tom smiled 
 weakly and placidly at the declaration of war, he 
 struck him in the face. Tom understood ; his lip 
 was cut and his nose bleeding. 
 
 "Let me alone," he whined, but Dick sprang 
 behind him, struck out again with all his strength, 
 and Tom staggered toward the line of blue-jackets. 
 
 "Pass him through," called Dick; "he's had 
 enough." 
 
 "With yells and laughter they passed him 
 through. Tom, in a state of unstable equilibrium, 
 chasse'd down the line, kept from falling by the 
 alternate blows he received from each side. 
 Before he had received the last and floundered to 
 the sidewalk beyond, Dick, realizing the magni 
 tude of the task he had set for himself, bounded 
 toward the waiting group at the gate. 
 
 80
 
 THE AGE OF IRON 81 
 
 Confronting him was the stern-faced Mr. Clark, 
 his old teacher. 
 
 "Is this you, Eichard Halpin?" he said men 
 acingly. "Stop this at once, or I shall send for 
 the police." 
 
 "Yes, Mr. Clark," answered Dick; "and as 
 you're too old for me, I advise you to keep out. 
 I've started to lick the gang that licked me, and 
 I'll do it, too. And if you call your police, they'll 
 get hurt that's all." 
 
 "He won't lick me," said a tall, broad-shoul 
 dered' and well-dressed young man, who stepped 
 to Mr. Clark's side. It was Will Simpson, the 
 boy who, at sixteen, had thrashed a man ; and he 
 was removing his outer garments. Dick, with 
 wide-open eyes, waited until he had hung them 
 over the fence, then asked, " Ready ? " 
 
 " Yes ready ; always ready," answered "Will, 
 dryly and composedly, bringing his two big fists 
 to position. 
 
 But before they were quite in position almost 
 before the last word had left his lips Dick had 
 planted both fists between his eyes. Will stag 
 gered against the fence, recovered and advanced 
 angrily. But the strength and skill that had 
 made him a village champion were of no avail 
 before Dick Halpin a seaman apprentice of the 
 navy. Shameful and bitter before his school 
 mates was his punishment, as Dick, unhurt by his
 
 82 MASTERS OF MEN 
 
 lunging strokes, danced around him, and at last, 
 when he made a wild rush, sent him to earth. 
 
 " Any more ? " cried Dick, in an abandon of 
 recklessness. "Webster Scanlon. Here take 
 care of this one in case he wants more." 
 
 These two advanced, lifted the demoralized Will 
 Simpson to his feet and escorted him to the ranks. 
 Dick, with flashing eyes and dilating nostrils, the 
 battle-fever in his soul, pushed through the scat 
 tering, agitated group at the gate and caromed 
 into a white-haired old gentleman whom he knew 
 as the high school principal, but who had no 
 knowledge, past or present, of Dick. 
 
 " Stand clear, sir," he cried to the shocked old 
 gentleman; "I'm reforming your school." He 
 brushed past him. " Ned Brown, Tom Brandes," 
 he muttered. " Are they here ? " 
 
 Up the street, toward the country road, was a 
 group scholars of both sexes, and among them, 
 as he looked, Dick recognized the faces of the two 
 he had named tall young fellows who had the 
 appearance of being able to run. He could catch 
 one, but not the other. Turning the other way 
 he beheld Mr. Clark and the high school princi 
 pal hurrying past his shipmates. An indignant 
 crowd surrounded the sailors, and down the street 
 two blocks away were three policemen, with 
 drawn clubs, coming on a run. Dick grasped the 
 situation at a glance. " Devlin Kerrigan," he
 
 THE AGE OP IRON 83 
 
 called, " come here. Look out for the cops behind 
 you, boys. Clear out. Turn those fellows loose 
 and muster at the station at six." 
 
 Devlin and Kerrigan arrived. They were joy 
 ful of soul, and possessed, besides, the additional 
 qualification of good records in the Cob-dock 
 footraces. 
 
 " Boys," said Dick, as he pointed up the street, 
 "see that long-geared fellow in the derby hat 
 and short overcoat, near the tree? That's Ned 
 Brown. Get him. He'll run, but get him. If 
 he wants to see me, bring him to that tree over 
 there. If he don't, tap him once for me and 
 meet us at the station six o'clock. Under 
 stand ? No mistake, now. I'll get my man, and 
 that'll finish up. Hurrah, now. Come on." 
 
 Away they went on a keen run, and the boys 
 ahead of them scattered. Dick had chosen Tom 
 Brandes, who waited for him behind a tree across 
 the street, then, dodging as he was about to seize 
 him, sped diagonally across the ball-ground toward 
 the side streets and his home. He was speedy, 
 and Dick settled down to a long chase.
 
 CHAPTER XVI 
 
 Y 
 
 like ? Is he doing well ? You have been 
 here two hours and only just tell me." 
 
 " He is doing very well," said Mr. Breen, dryly ; 
 " very well indeed. And not the least in retain 
 ing your interest so long. Let's see ; how many 
 years have sadly flown ? " 
 
 "Please be serious," Mabel Arthur answered, 
 with a hint of colour in her face ; " I ought to 
 explain. I feel responsible for his leaving home 
 and school. We were only children, of course. 
 He left under a cloud, and Bessie has always said 
 that if he went to the bad it would be my fault." 
 
 In any face but that of Ensign John Breen, the 
 expression might have been a sneer ; in his it was 
 but a lukewarm smile. 
 
 " And Bessie is interested ? " he asked. 
 
 " Of course ; why, she believed in him when I 
 did not. Later, it all came out. He was accused, 
 unjustly, of stealing, and expelled from school. 
 His uncle turned him out, and he went away. I 
 have never heard from him since. I hope he is 
 successful." 
 
 "He is. He is a seaman-gunner of the navy, 
 84
 
 THE AGE OF IRON 85 
 
 now in the Vermont with me. He is one of the 
 finest products of the apprentice system that I've 
 seen tall, athletic, refined in speech educated, 
 I'm told, almost to the requirements of a commis 
 sion handsome in a way, and a favourite with all 
 hands and the ladies." 
 
 "I'm so glad ; and where is he now in Ver 
 mont, did you say ? " 
 
 "On board the receiving-ship Vermont; but in 
 town to-day." 
 
 " In town ? Here in Allville ? " 
 
 "I saw him two minutes before I called. He 
 must have come up on the train ahead of me." 
 
 "Why didn't you bring him with you? You 
 know I would like to see him." 
 
 " You forget that it is two years or more since 
 you expressed the desire ; besides, I doubt that a 
 sailor would care to make social visits with an 
 officer." 
 
 "I understand the sarcasm; but I do want to 
 see him. Where was he ? " 
 
 " He was very pleasantly occupied. Had I been 
 enjoying myself so thoroughly, I would hardly 
 have come on the instant even had you sent for 
 me." 
 
 She looked searchingly at him, with inquiry in 
 her face ; and, after a moment's musing, she said, 
 "But do you think you could induce him to " 
 
 " You would have me hunt him up, and extend
 
 86 MASTERS OF MEN 
 
 your invitation ? I will do so, provided he is on 
 the street." He arose as he spoke, and the lines 
 of his face hardened a little. 
 
 " No, no, I was thoughtless. You are an officer 
 he is a sailor." 
 
 " I am not in uniform." 
 
 " No sit down again. It would grate and 
 harrow your very soul. Men may forgive any 
 thing but a humiliation. I will write to him." 
 
 " I should think," he said dryly, as he seated 
 himself, " that a letter would answer every 
 purpose." 
 
 " Sometimes I hate myself," she said slowly, as 
 she studied the carpet. " Do you know what I 
 did ? When he was disgraced and expelled ? He 
 stood outside when school let out, and he looked 
 as if he had not a friend in the world ; and every 
 immaculate one of us snubbed him except Bes 
 sie. I shall never forget the look in his face when 
 I passed him." There were decided tears in her 
 eyes now, and all that Mr. Breen could say, in a 
 rather strained accent of voice, was, " Bessie has 
 a good heart a big, generous heart." 
 
 "Indeed she has. And she was so indignant 
 when she learned it all. It was a year later, for 
 I went away to boarding-school, and we did not 
 become friends until I got back. Neither of us 
 knew at the time all that had happened. Why, 
 there were five boys, all larger than he, who set
 
 THE AGE OF IRON 87 
 
 upon him, and kicked him almost unconscious; 
 and he was brave, and fought them ; but there 
 were so many the great big brutes. Poor 
 little Dick!" 
 
 " Poor little Dick," repeated the ensign. " Poor, 
 big, broad-shouldered, iron-fisted, quicker-than- 
 chain-lightning, able-seaman Halpin. I wouldn't 
 care to be one of the five when he meets them. 
 The other day, I was told, he lifted Big Billson 
 two hundred pounds right off his feet with one 
 blow. He's a terror, poor little Dick." 
 
 She turned her face to the window, as if to 
 hide the inconsistent smile that was showing 
 there. Then, with an exclamation she arose to 
 her feet. 
 
 " Look ! look ! " she said. 
 
 Mr. Breen reached her side at a bound. A wild- 
 eyed youth with his hat in his hand had rushed 
 around the corner of the house from the back 
 yard, pursued by another, who caught him at the 
 foot of the front steps. 
 
 "There," said the ensign, "there is your poor 
 little boy ; and he seems to be upholding his later 
 record." 
 
 "Is that Dick Halpin, really? Is that Dick? 
 Oh, isn't he changed ? Isn't he a man ! But what 
 is he doing ? " 
 
 She looked with startled eyes at the pair out 
 side. They were both panting, and one cringed
 
 88 MASTERS OP MEN 
 
 before the other, who stood erect, holding him by 
 the collar. Their voices could be plainly heard 
 one quavering with fear, the other angry and 
 strong. 
 
 " You're not worth it, Tom Brandes," Dick was 
 saying ; " but to finish the job, you've got to take 
 it." Tom lowered his head, but the fist did not 
 fall. Dick's face had assumed a wondering, puz 
 zled look as he glanced up and down the street, 
 and it changed to one of certainty when his eyes 
 rested on the front of the house and the two fig 
 ures in the window. His grip loosened on Tom's 
 collar; the young man shook himself free, and 
 fled through the gate, while Dick, with his flushed 
 face a shade redder, and an almost defiant light 
 in his eyes, drew himself to full height and brought 
 his hand to his cap in a stiff salute. Then he 
 turned, passed through the gate, following Tom 
 down the street at a walk. The ensign had an 
 swered the salute, but Mabel had inclined her 
 head and smiled before it was given. 
 
 " "Was that one of the five ? " asked tho ensign, 
 cautiously. She had left the window and seated 
 herself in a chair. 
 
 " Yes ; I know them all." 
 
 " Let me try to explain," he said gently ; " he 
 might have removed his cap, of course, to a lady ; 
 but I think he was embarrassed, and on the spur 
 of the moment answered with the service salute."
 
 THE AGE OF IRON 89 
 
 " He saluted you ; he would not look at me. I 
 deserve it, I know ; but I would have explained 
 I would have apologized. It was due him. Now, 
 how can I ? " 
 
 " Explain through Bessie whatever it is. They 
 must be very good friends. He visited there 
 to-day. I saw him on my way here." 
 
 " At her house," she exclaimed, standing erect ; 
 "then that is why what she meant she 
 expected company she could not come over 
 to-day." 
 
 As an officer and a gentleman must not tell all 
 he knows, Mr. Breen may be excused in not 
 naming himself as the company expected. It 
 might have involved explanations of the shortness 
 of his stay. 
 
 " She must have known all about him all this 
 long time," she continued, as she paced the floor. 
 "It is the deceit the deceit that hurts. She 
 was always talking about him. And she never 
 told me. I could not deceive her so. Explain 
 through her? Not I. But I am a woman 
 now, and it is due myself to atone for the 
 selfish fault of a child in the only way that is 
 left me. You see him often. Will you say to 
 him " 
 
 "Pardon me," he interrupted. "No, I cannot. 
 I can have nothing but official relations with him. 
 Oh, I would like to be a blue-jacket," he burst out
 
 90 MASTERS OF MEN 
 
 vehemently, "a nice sailor-boy, with a big fist 
 and a big nerve and an interesting past." 
 
 "Mr. Breen, what do you mean?" she said 
 slowly. 
 
 "I beg your pardon really, I do," he said, 
 while his face softened. "I ought not to have 
 spoken so, but, you see, I never before knew a 
 sailor so far above par. I believe I'll go; and 
 not come again until I am on better terms with 
 myself that is, if I may." 
 
 " You will stay right here and have dinner with 
 us. Father will be home in a few minutes. No, 
 you must stay I insist. If you like you may 
 take me to the theatre this evening. I have 
 tickets."
 
 CHAPTER XYII 
 
 THE contractions of facial muscles known as 
 smiles, grins, sneers, and frowns are prompted 
 by emotions varying from those of pleasure to 
 those of pain and anger. Other changes of feature, 
 such as result from surprise, grief, or fear, though 
 equally distinctive, have not been denominated. 
 A few of them are duplicated in the faces of 
 animals, but often from a contradictory cause. A 
 dog and a hyena will grin, and the latter will 
 laugh, but not from a sense of humour ; and these 
 apparent inconsistencies and accidental variations 
 in cause and effect have prevented science from 
 classifying the relations between the emotions and 
 the muscles as an exact study. In spite of this 
 difficulty, however, one iconoclastic reasoner has 
 attempted to trace the origin of the smile which 
 alone in the list may be considered a human attri 
 bute by a backward flight to the days when 
 our ancestors hung by their tails to the limbs of 
 trees and were as dexterous with their toes as with 
 their fingers, when the first law of Nature was in 
 supreme force, and the struggle for existence so 
 bitter as to exclude all pleasure except that of 
 eating when, other things being equal, the indi- 
 
 91
 
 92 MASTERS OF MEN 
 
 vidual who first got his or her mouth open was 
 the one to close it on food. Hence, says this 
 reasoner, arose the habit of opening the mouth in 
 good time ; and the habit, coincident in perform 
 ance with pleasure or its anticipation, has descended 
 through the ages, and has produced, through evo 
 lution, the smile. 
 
 Think of this, young mother. Your baby, 
 dimpling under your caresses, receives the impulse 
 from a tailed and hairy ancestor, ravenously part 
 ing two rows of yellow tushes in hungry anticipa 
 tion. Young man, as you bask in the radiant joy 
 and tenderness beaming through the beauty in 
 your sweetheart's face, remember that her smile 
 is an ancestral trait based upon the empty stom 
 achs of her progenitors. Girls, trust him not 
 because he merely smiles. The founders of his 
 family raced and fought for food, and survived 
 the struggle because their mouths were large and 
 their jaws strong. That is why he is here to-day, 
 to feel pleasure in your favour, and fondly smile 
 upon you. 
 
 The iconoclastic reasoner may escape a violent 
 death, but he deserves to linger on in a loveless, 
 smileless existence. For, with his logic, he would 
 rob us of the sweetest favour of the gods, human 
 ity's universal flag-of-truce welcome index of 
 needful, though temporary, armistice in the never 
 ending warfare of individuals. He would take
 
 THE AGE OF IRON 93 
 
 away the entrancing mystery of the dearest, most 
 delightful of all life's delusions, the smile of 
 woman, which, even though we know that it is 
 often a masked battery, we would not do without. 
 It can bless us or blight us, but we are free agents 
 with power of volition. We may accept or reject, 
 risk or run ; and woman's radiant smile, like other 
 radiant energy, decreases in force as the square of 
 the distance. 
 
 JVlabel Arthur had again smiled at Dick, and the 
 effect was revolutionary. In his hard masculine 
 life the affections had not been largely developed. 
 A warm and sincere friendship between himself 
 and Bronson had found expression only in an 
 absence of harsh words in their intercourse, a 
 careless nod or cheery joke at parting, and a hearty 
 handshake when they met again. Toward Bessie 
 there had remained a kindly feeling of gratitude, 
 which had led him to seek her for further 
 favours on coming home. His weak-natured 
 aunt had never been able to impress him strongly, 
 and he stood now, as in his childhood, nearly alone 
 in the world. It was due, perhaps, to this lack of 
 diverting affections that the boyish admiration 
 and homage inspired by Mabel, as a school miss, 
 had grown latently as he approached manhood, 
 into a feeling of intensity past, his own power of 
 analysis. He was dimly conscious of its growth 
 and grip on his soul when Bessie had teased him,
 
 94 MASTERS OF MEN 
 
 and later had awakened more fully to a con 
 ception, of its strength when he had seen his 
 officer making for her door. Yet his consequent 
 ill-humour on this occasion arose from a jealousy 
 which he might have classed with the feeling 
 often aroused in him when he had looked through 
 a skylight at the ward-room dinner and had then 
 gone forward to a salt-beef ration. But the sight 
 of her, standing at the window in all her beauty 
 of figure and face, the startled dark eyes shining 
 with the tears of the moment before, the crown 
 of glossy hair, the tinted cheek and full white 
 throat, the graceful inclining of her head and 
 shoulders, and the tremulous, tentative parting 
 of her lips that ripened, as he looked, to a bewil 
 dering smile of frank recognition, aroused in 
 the sailor a knowledge of himself. 
 
 But the knowledge came with a shock, and his 
 involuntary attitude partook of the bitter defiance 
 of his last meeting with her. He had not seen 
 the change in her face which had prompted Mr. 
 Breen to a chivalrous defence of his ungracious 
 ness, and he went down the street with wildly 
 beating heart and trembling knee-joints, wrestling 
 with the one phase of the situation that he could 
 grasp, she had smiled on him, and greeted him 
 from the window of her home. For the gentle 
 man at her side the commissioned officer he 
 cared nothing at present. Mabel had smiled on
 
 THE AGE OF IKON 95 
 
 him, and by that smile had lifted him higher in 
 his self-estimation than would an appointment to 
 Annapolis. 
 
 At the next corner he came to earth. He heard 
 distant yells over the house-tops, and the rousing 
 chorus of a sea song that he knew. But that 
 which had come to him prevented the words that 
 would surely have arisen to his lips without it, 
 and yet accentuated the sickening disgust he now 
 felt for the crowd with which he was identified, 
 and for the mission which had brought them to 
 this peaceful town. What would she think of 
 him when it all came out ? Yet she herself had 
 once asked him to fight, and there was comfort 
 in the thought. 
 
 He could not mix with that crowd now not 
 yet, so he doubled around the block and out 
 across the ball-ground, glad to find it vacant, and 
 sat down on a rock at the side of the country road, 
 where he overhauled his soul, calling back the 
 past, planning the future, and often shutting his 
 eyes to see again the face at the window. His 
 time in the navy would expire in a few months; 
 he would be of age, he could obtain the money 
 that his mother had left him, and meet Mabel 
 Arthur by right as the social equal of any ensign 
 in the American navy. 
 
 Even a sailor in love, seasoned as he may be 
 against exposure and warmed by the glow in his
 
 96 MASTERS OF MEN 
 
 breast, may become chilled if he sits long on a 
 cold rock, especially if the uniform of the day is 
 "blue without pea-coats." Yet the distant city- 
 hall clock had struck seven and the winter cold 
 had reached his bones before he was reminded 
 that at six he was to meet the boys at the 
 station. 
 
 "Hope they knew enough to take the train," 
 he muttered as he pulled himself together and 
 started stiffly through the darkness. Under the 
 first street light he studied his time-table and 
 found that the next train for the city would pass 
 through at nine o'clock. "Plenty of time," he 
 said ; " it's like pulling teeth to shake hands with 
 the old man ; but Aunt Mollie wouldn't forgive 
 me if I missed seeing her." 
 
 He went down the street, past the schoolhouse, 
 and, a few blocks further, crossed over to enter 
 the street on which stood his uncle's house. But 
 in the middle of the street he stopped. He could 
 look straight down to the business section of the 
 town, brightly illuminated by the newly installed 
 arc lights overhead. Men were running about 
 and an occasional shout reached his ears. He 
 turned, and hurried on, for he could distinguish, 
 here and there, among the running men, the uni 
 formed figure of a shipmate. Two men coming 
 toward him scurried across the street when they 
 saw him under a street lamp, and Dick heard
 
 THE AGE OF IRON 97 
 
 one say, " There's another of 'em." Both looked 
 worse for wear. 
 
 He passed groups on the corners, and was stared 
 at and given room. Uncomplimentary remarks 
 and epithets came from crowded doorways, and 
 a woman screamed after him, "Why don't you 
 git out o' this town, you miserable rowdy ? " 
 Paying no attention, he hurried on, passing the 
 door of the police station where three middle-aged 
 men in shirt-sleeves and blue trousers with thin 
 white stripes were expostulating with an older 
 and grayer man in the uniform of a police captain. 
 On the next street, where stood the Salvation 
 Army barracks and brightly lighted theatre, was 
 the centre of excitement. Here he found Casey 
 in the middle of the street, swinging an agonized 
 pug dog around by its chain as a sailor would 
 heave the lead, calling out, " Watch, ho, watch," 
 with each revolution of the dog, and as the poor 
 brute landed, " By the mark ten," " A quarter 
 nine," or any mark or deep of the lead-line that 
 came to his mind. The mistress of the dog wept 
 in a doorway, and O'Toole, flourishing a locust 
 club, was threatening Casey with mock arrest and 
 dodging the dog. In front of the barracks were 
 the others, doing their best to break up an out 
 door service of the Salvationists. Billson, an ex 
 pert bugler, had captured a cornet, and Scanlon a 
 drum. The street was crowded with awestruck
 
 98 MASTERS OF MEN 
 
 boys, and the sidewalks with well-dressed, respect 
 able folk, most of them bound for the theatre, 
 and some of whom were laughing at the specta 
 cle; but Morrisey, the tutelary genius of it all, 
 was not in evidence.
 
 CHAPTER XVIII 
 
 " TTELL to pay and no pitch hot," growled 
 
 1 i Dick as he faced Casey. " Drop it, 
 Casey," he said, " belay that. Let the dog go." 
 
 "Hooray," yelled Casey, obeying the order 
 the dog landed near its owner and throwing 
 his arms around Dick's neck. "Here he is. 
 Where ye been, me jewel ? Did they kill ye at 
 all?" 
 
 " No sound, no ground, no bottom to be found, 
 with the long pitch-pine pike-pole, Daddy," howled 
 Shannon, vaulting between them on the end of a 
 long pole. " Can ye take soundin's on the Erie, 
 Casey? This way." He stabbed the pavement. 
 " No sound, no ground hello, Dick. Here's 
 Dick." 
 
 They seized Dick by the shoulders and pushed 
 him, unresisting, over toward the others, while 
 O'Toole prodded them with the club. 
 
 "Stop this," he yelled, shaking himself free. 
 " Stop it, or you'll get the worst of it. Come on, 
 now, down to the station all of you." They 
 paid no attention. Dick retreated to the sidewalk 
 and a dignified old gentleman tapped him on the 
 shoulder. He knew him. It was Mr. Arthur 
 Mabel's father. 
 
 99
 
 100 MASTERS OF MEN 
 
 " You appear to be sober, young man," he said. 
 " If you can control those fellows and induce them 
 to leave town, do so ; if not, as mayor of the town, 
 I shall call out the firemen. They can attend to 
 them if the police cannot." 
 
 "Excuse me, sir," answered Dick in some embar 
 rassment 3 for the halo of Mabel's divinity hung 
 over her father ; " but if you do, there will only 
 be some heads to mend. I can't control them now 
 not yet. They're three-sheets-in-the-wind and 
 wouldn't take orders from an admiral. But wait 
 a little and I'll get them away." 
 
 " Chief," called the old gentleman to the gray- 
 haired police captain, who stood in the crowd, 
 " call out all the companies and send the foremen 
 to me." 
 
 Three minutes later, with a clanging of bells 
 and scattering of boys, two engines, two hose-carts, 
 and two hook-and-ladder trucks clattered up to the 
 corner from different directions, and Dick, expos 
 tulating with his shipmates, who were now form 
 ing for parade, observed two six-foot foremen, 
 in fire helmets and waterproof coats, hastening 
 toward the mayor. He also joined him. 
 
 " Now look here, sir," he said excitedly ; " there's 
 no use in this. They'll resent dictation and some 
 one will get hurt if you use force with them. I 
 can keep them from doing any harm. Leave it 
 to me, and I'll march them to the station."
 
 THE AGE OF IKON 101 
 
 The mayor regarded him seriously, as though 
 disposed to believe him ; but another man, pushing 
 through the crowd, interrupted him just as he was 
 about to speak. 
 
 "What's up, Mr. Arthur?" he asked. "Want 
 to sprinkle 'em ? " 
 
 " Why, yes, Jenkins, I had thought of it or 
 else, throwing them out of town by force. I called 
 your men, but as chief you are entitled to direct. 
 This young man advises delay thinks he can 
 manage them." 
 
 " Manage nothing," answered the other, regard 
 ing Dick contemptuously. " I'll give 'em a bath 
 for the fun of it, and drive 'em afterward." 
 
 " Suit yourself, Jenkins." 
 
 "All right," said Dick, angrily. "You'll be 
 sorry for it, I promise you. I'll stand by my 
 mates." 
 
 He hurried to them where they were regarding 
 with mild interest the preparations for their undo 
 ing. They seemed to have forgotten their idea of 
 parade. 
 
 " Break scatter clear out," yelled Dick ; 
 " they're going to turn the water on you." 
 
 " Going to what ? " they answered in chorus. 
 " Going to turn water on us ? Are we afire ? 
 Going to wash us ? Why not holystone us ? Bill- 
 son, shut off steam, there ; silence that fog-horn 
 o' yours. Scanlon, beat to quarters ! Repel
 
 102 MASTEKS OF MEN 
 
 boarders! All hands repel boarders! Keegan, 
 belay. Stand by for a rakin' fire from forrard." 
 
 Even as they declaimed the two companies were 
 rushing their engines and hose-carts in opposite 
 directions to the hydrants at the next corners, the 
 carts paying out hose as they went. The hook- 
 and-ladder men remained by their trucks. Two 
 pipe-men at each hose coupled on the heavy brass 
 nozzles, waited until the engines whistled, and sang 
 out in answer. Men passed the word along the 
 two lines and water came a deluge of it, in two 
 solid streams, which struck the procrastinating 
 blue-jackets and knocked most of them down, 
 while the crowd cheered. 
 
 Although a wetting has little effect on the 
 health of a sailor, it invariably adds to his dis 
 comfort and combativeness. They arose, much 
 soberer than when they fell, charged on the near 
 est nozzle and wrested it from the firemen, who 
 fled, followed by the stream, which, first circling 
 overhead, generously soaked the spectators on the 
 sidewalk. Leaving two in charge of the first 
 nozzle, they charged on and captured the second, 
 the pipe-men speeding out of range like the others. 
 Then, while the firemen, who had so far regarded 
 the matter as an enjoyable frolic, were reorganiz 
 ing with their oncoming reinforcements, which 
 included the three policemen, the two streams 
 were turned on the spectators, changing their
 
 THE AGE OF IRON 103 
 
 derisive laughter to cries of anger, and practically 
 washing the street clear of them. 
 
 But the firemen, dead in earnest now, were com 
 ing back, nearly two dozen strong, armed with 
 spanners, hooks, fire-axes, spare nozzles, and trump 
 ets. They had thrown off their cumbersome water 
 proof coats, and, drenched to the skin, advanced 
 inch by inch against the two streams which the 
 yelling sailors held at their breasts. Then they 
 deployed to the right and left, flanked and dis 
 concerted the moist battery, and advanced more 
 rapidly to what promised to be a bloody conflict, 
 disastrous for the sailors. To add to this promise, 
 there were, coming back from the rear, wet and 
 angry citizens, who had secured sticks and clubs 
 ranging in size from canes to cart-stakes ; but, in 
 fact, only one serious conflict occurred. 
 
 It was between a sailor and two big hook-and- 
 ladder men, who had advanced with fire-hooks, 
 the long points and barbs of which make them as 
 wicked weapons as boarding-pikes, but which, to 
 their credit, they used as clubs. The curriculum 
 of navy-drill provided for this warfare, and a well- 
 trained blue-jacket with a club in his hands has 
 the same advantage that a skilled fencer has with 
 the sword. Untouched by the lunging strokes of 
 his opponents, the sailor whirled his light, hard 
 wood foil, a condemned billiard cue, punched, 
 parried, and cut with it, but little by little was
 
 104 MASTERS OF MEN 
 
 forced backward, away from his friends and into 
 the crowd of indignant townspeople. 
 
 He would not have fought thus unequally had 
 not his shipmates been interfered with. At the 
 beginning of it, three men had run along the wet 
 sidewalk, turned into the street, and hastened 
 past the fighters toward the groups at the nozzles, 
 as the place of most ominous trouble. Two were 
 the mayor and chief of the fire department. They 
 waved and ordered the firemen back, and the 
 other, a young and well-dressed man, sprang 
 among the sailors, shouting : 
 
 " Stop this, men. Stop it at once. I am an 
 officer. Lower those nozzles down to the 
 ground. Stand on them. Instantly. Do you 
 hear me? Turn off your water, gentlemen," he 
 called to t'.ie others; "my side will obey." 
 
 They had obeyed him. Some recognized Mr. 
 Breen, and all knew the unmistakable accent of 
 an officer accustomed to authority. They saluted 
 and answered respectfully. Shouts were passed 
 around the corners, and soon the water ceased 
 to flow. " Fall in over here at the curb," 
 ordered Mr. Breen, sternly, " and give an account 
 of yourselves." 
 
 "Can't we help Halpin, sir," asked Casey, 
 anxiously, as he fitted the grummet to his cap. 
 "He's gittin' killed over yonder." 
 
 Mr. Breen turned and looked, just in time to
 
 THE AGE OF IRON 105 
 
 see the fighting sailor struck on the forehead 
 with a heavy stone flung from across the street. 
 Flourishing the half of his broken stick, he stag 
 gered and fell. The officer hurried over, followed 
 by the sailors, but before they reached the pros 
 trate figure, Mabel Arthur was bending over it.
 
 CHAPTER XIX 
 
 ~ ABEL Miss Arthur," said the officer, 
 gently, as he touched her arm; "here 
 is your father." 
 
 Mr. Arthur almost dragged her to her feet and 
 back through the crowd, scolding her in a most 
 shocked and fatherly manner. 
 
 " "Why are you here ? Going to the theatre with 
 Mr. Breen? Um-humph. Might better have re 
 mained at home on this occasion, with the streets 
 full of rioters. I haven't dared go to dinner." 
 
 "But, father," she stammered, "it is the boy 
 Dick Hal pin; you know you remember. 
 The boy who went away, and oh, father, come 
 back. I want to be sure that he is not seriously 
 injured." 
 
 Her father humoured her, and the crowd parted 
 for them to make their way back. Dick was hurt, 
 but not seriously. He was on his feet, shaking 
 his head in quick jerks to prevent the blood from 
 running into his eyes. Wet, muddy, and bleed 
 ing, with his long hair dishevelled and his face 
 contracted in pain, he was not an agreeable sight, 
 and Mabel shuddered. He was facing partly away 
 106
 
 THE AGE OF IRON 107 
 
 and could not see her. Mr. Breen held him by 
 one arm and Shannon by the other, not to sup 
 port, but to curb him ; for he was muttering to 
 himself and was not yet responsible. 
 
 " It was a stone, neighbour," said one of the fire 
 men to him, "not us. We couldn't touch you. 
 I'm sorry now, old man, and here's my hand on 
 it. I know a good man when I see him. We 
 don't throw stones not us." 
 
 "Who was it?" asked Dick, weakly. "Who 
 hit me?" 
 
 "Never mind who it was, Halpin," said Mr. 
 Breen, sternly. "You have disgraced yourself 
 and the service enough as it is." 
 
 They faced him the other way, and Dick saw 
 Mabel saw her turn from him with an expres 
 sion in her face which somewhat resembled the 
 look of terror and horror it had held on that last 
 day in school. 
 
 " Fall in here, men," called Mr. Breen. " Double 
 column with Halpin between you. Webster, I 
 know you ; take my place. I hold you and Shan 
 non responsible for his safe delivery on board the 
 Vermont. Halpin, you are under arrest. Make 
 way there, please. Forward march." 
 
 With Shannon and Webster holding him tightly, 
 and his bodyguard changed to a guard of arrest, 
 Dick was marched through the streets toward the 
 station. But Shannon and Webster need not have
 
 108 MASTEKS OF MEN 
 
 held him. He was tractable and harmless, for the 
 transient light of Mabel Arthur's smile had gone 
 from his soul. 
 
 The ensign hastened after, and the crowd grad 
 ually dispersed, except for a small contingent that 
 jeered the sailors on their way. On the station 
 platform, where Mr. Breen halted them to wait 
 for the train, Morrisey appeared, with his silk hat 
 on an even keel sober-faced and anxious in 
 manner. 
 
 "I know ye're an officer, sir," he said to the 
 ensign, saluting him in the way that only man- 
 of-war's men acquire. " I'm Tim Morrisey, late 
 quartermaster of the Kearsarge, and I want to say 
 a word for the boys, and Dick there. Dick's a 
 good lad, as ye must know, sir, and all he wanted 
 was to do up the gang o' school bullies that killed 
 him once, and he brought his mates to help him. 
 But he didn't get 'em full. I did that, not knowin' 
 how far they'd go; but Dick's innocent of it. 
 Why, ye can see, sir, that Dick hasn't been 
 drinkin'. Plase be aisy on 'em, sir. Now, will 
 ye sind Dick over to my hotel under guard, sir, 
 and I'll clane him up, so he can go aboard pre- 
 sintable like, and not fall foul o' the master-at- 
 arms ? " 
 
 During part of this discourse Mr. Breen had 
 been compelled to smile, which had encouraged 
 Morrisey to continue.
 
 THE AGE OF IRON 109 
 
 " I will consider your protest," he answered ; 
 "that is all I can say." 
 
 Morrisey drew over toward the boys, not to 
 talk, he knew better, but to encourage them 
 by his presence and sympathy. They were quiet 
 and sober now, and stood shivering in their wet 
 clothing. Dick, smeared with blood, was seated 
 on a bench with his chin in his hand and eyes 
 on the platform. 
 
 "Webster Shannon," said Mr. Breen, "take 
 Halpin over with this man and attend to his wants. 
 Halpin, will you go on board to-night if I give 
 you your liberty?" 
 
 "Yes, sir," said Dick, rising to his feet and 
 saluting. 
 
 "And the rest of you. Do you all belong to 
 the receiving-ship?" 
 
 "Yes, sir," they answered; "all of us we'll 
 go aboard, sir we want dry clothes." 
 
 " Very well, go along. You need not report to 
 the executive officer, Halpin. I will attend to 
 your case myself when I come on board." 
 
 " Thank ye, sir," said Morrisey ; " I consider 
 this a personal favour, sir." 
 
 Mr. Breen went back to spend the evening at 
 the Arthurs. He had managed his share of the 
 proceedings without getting wet, and was still a 
 well-groomed, presentable young man. 
 
 Next morning the baker's dozen of sailors intro-
 
 110 MASTERS OF MEN 
 
 duced themselves to the Vermont 's surgeon in the 
 sick-bay, all suffering from splitting headaches. 
 But Dick's headache was hardest to cure, for 
 he had barely escaped brain concussion. Truly, 
 thirteen is an unlucky number.
 
 CHAPTEK XX 
 
 ONLY by friction with his fellows and by the 
 development within him of instincts based 
 upon ancestral experience does man acquire a 
 conscience. Continuing on from the embryonic 
 reproduction of organic change of the lower to 
 the higher types, the young of the human species 
 takes up at birth the progress of the ape-like 
 men, and in the case of the male lives 
 through every chapter of human history. The 
 small boy in his primal impulses is as savage as 
 his prototype of the jungle.' He is afraid of the 
 dark, he is afraid of the storm, and whimpers at 
 the sound of thunder. In this, of course, he is 
 worthy of pity and comforting words ; but, when 
 he has conquered his cowardice to the point where 
 he dares pounce upon a weaker creature, he will 
 torture it mercilessly. His occasional combats 
 with his fellows are always short a few blows 
 are given, and one flees, pursued by the other, 
 courageous because confident. But should the 
 vanquished, with blind rage serving for courage, 
 return to battle, the flight will be reversed. 
 Epitomizing as he does the infancy of the race, 
 
 a boy's attitude toward the world is antagonistic, 
 ill
 
 112 MASTERS OF MEN 
 
 Yet there are times during his passage through 
 the Neolithic Period when he would rather beat 
 you at marbles than frighten you with a pistol. 
 Later on he prefers the latter. Then there are 
 times when nothing suits him but a bow and 
 arrow, times when he will hide for days in 
 a cave which he has found or dug for himself 
 like his cave-dwelling ancestry, when he will 
 practice strenuously at hatchet-throwing, knife- 
 throwing, spear-throwing, and is joyful of soul 
 when he can break a window with a stone from 
 his sling. Banded with others he will often cruelly 
 maltreat a weaker boy a captive from an 
 other neighbourhood, and his hunting games 
 survivals of the chase sometimes end fatally to 
 the losers. He is a robber for the love of the 
 sport. But in time somewhere between the 
 ages of fifteen and twenty-one these primitive 
 attributes, under the influence of punishment, 
 reward, and good example, may be civilized out 
 of him, and he becomes fit for acquaintanceship. 
 But he never ceases to lie. 
 
 The development of the girl differs slightly 
 from that of the boy. Yery early perhaps in 
 the prenatal life she loses the killing impulse, 
 and only resumes it under later stress of jealousy 
 or motherhood. Leaving her Paleolithic brother 
 to work out his own salvation in his own way, the 
 baby girl leaps at once into the pseudo-civilization
 
 THE AGE OF IRON 113 
 
 of the Middle Ages, with its emotionalism, its en 
 thusiasm, and its supernaturalism which existed 
 in women before the Middle Ages were dreamt 
 of. She is a monitor and a preacher from prompt 
 ings within herself, and when she has learned to 
 talk she tells her small brother what he should 
 and should not do not because she knows, but 
 because she feels. She remains in the Middle 
 Ages while she lives, a preacher, a monitor, a 
 dictator. She is often no more than a nagging 
 scold, but on the whole her life is cleaner, brighter, 
 and more moral than that of her brother. Once 
 past the sugar-bowl period, her pilfering propen 
 sities are easily dropped or suppressed until pov 
 erty or kleptomania bring them to the surface ; 
 but her cowardice, nourished and conserved by 
 physical weakness, often remains with her to the 
 end, and in mendacity, compelled by the restric 
 tions placed upon her by society, she outclasses 
 her brother. A man is by nature a liar from the 
 cradle to the grave. A woman is more she is 
 an actress. 
 
 And this brings us to the object of this analysis. 
 We know that Dick Halpin has painfully struggled 
 from the Age of Stone into the Age of Iron. "We 
 must also know that Bessie Fleming sweet, 
 and wholesome, and lovable is a fibber. As to 
 Mabel Arthur, we can only infer ; the evidence is 
 not clear.
 
 114 MASTERS OF MEN 
 
 On the following Sunday the two girls, each 
 suitably arrayed, went to church, and when the 
 service was over, met in the vestibule. After 
 kisses and compliments they went out together, 
 and Bessie said effusively : 
 
 " But where have you kept yourself, dear. Why, 
 I haven't seen you since before the riot. Wasn't 
 it dreadful ? " 
 
 "Wasn't it? I have been ill all the week," 
 answered Mabel. "I only got out to-day." 
 
 " Weren't they horrid ? They almost killed 
 poor Dicky; they swung him around by his 
 chain and he hasn't been himself at all since 
 then. And, do you know, it was Dick Halpin 
 our Dick, for whom we named him who 
 rescued Dicky. Wasn't it nice? Such a coinci 
 dence, too." 
 
 " Did he ? I understood that he was the ring 
 leader the master spirit." 
 
 " Not at all, Mabel. You know I always stood 
 up for Dick, and always will. He was quelling 
 the riot all the time." 
 
 " I thought Mr. Breen did that he, and father, 
 and the firemen." 
 
 " But Dick was first. I was standing in a door 
 way I got dreadfully wet and saw it all. I 
 saw you, Mabel. Did you see Dick? Isn't he 
 big, and strong, and handsome?" 
 
 " Handsome ? " murmured Mabel, with a sweet
 
 THE AGE OF IRON 115 
 
 and pleasant drawl in her voice ; " I don't know. 
 I did not observe him closely ; but I think that 
 Mr. Breen is rather nice looking." 
 
 " Do you ? Now, I think Dick is much hand 
 somer. I suppose you heard how he thrashed 
 those boys who treated him so cruelly." 
 
 "I did hear something; but, you know, I am 
 not greatly interested in his exploits." 
 
 " No ? But he did, Mabel all but one, who ran 
 away. Anna was there and saw it all. "Wasn't it 
 poetic justice that he should come back so big, 
 and brave, and strong ? And he was so small and 
 helpless when they ill-treated him. You know how 
 I felt. I believe I was the only friend he had in 
 the whole world." 
 
 "Well, I felt at the time, and feel still, that 
 I had done my duty when I exonerated him. 
 George was only a foolish boy, you know. Of 
 course, I can understand that it is different with 
 you. Mr. Breen said you know he called that 
 day and spent the evening with us well, Mr. 
 Breen said he was a notorious fighter, always in 
 trouble." 
 
 Bessie's small hand opened spasmodically, much 
 as a cat shows her claws ; but it was gloved, and 
 Mabel smiled, sweetly and fearlessly. 
 
 " Did he really call on you, Mabel ? " asked 
 Bessie. "How nice; he called at our house, 
 too; but Dick was there and he went away
 
 116 MASTERS OF MEN 
 
 he went right away. I was surprised. And so 
 he called on you?" 
 
 "He had something to say to me," replied 
 Mabel, dreamily. " I suppose that he called to 
 say it." 
 
 Bessie's face paled a little, and her eyes opened 
 wide, but she made no direct inquiry as to what 
 Mr. Breen had to say. After a moment's silence 
 she said : 
 
 " I don't think that Mr. Breen is at all reliable. 
 I think he is very much of a flirt so insincere 
 and inconsistent. Dick is different. I received 
 a lovely letter from him last evening. Shall 
 I show it to you, Mabel ? " 
 
 She drew forth a letter which Mabel took, 
 languidly, and experiencing a little difficulty in 
 reaching in between the edges of the envelope, 
 removed her left glove. She was not left-handed, 
 but by removing her right glove she could not 
 have displayed a large diamond on the third 
 finger of her left hand. 
 
 " Oh, Mabel," exclaimed Bessie, as she seized 
 the hand, " isn't it beautiful ? " Her cheek was 
 whiter and her lips twitched. 
 
 " Yes, isn't it ? " responded Mabel, as she pressed 
 the gem to her lips. " It came last evening, like 
 your letter, from New York. Let's see what your 
 gladiator says. 
 
 " ' My dear friend Bessie,' she read " he writes
 
 THE AGE OF IRON 117 
 
 a good hand, doesn't he, Bessie, for a common 
 sailor 'My dear friend Bessie, you have prob 
 ably formed an estimate of my general character 
 that no apology from me will change. Yet it is 
 due myself as well as you to offer one. I am 
 sincerely sorry for my conduct, and ask your par 
 don. It must have seemed unqualified rowdyism 
 to you. I know that I have no reputation in 
 Allville to be proud of, but I did, and would 
 again, value your good opinion. Yours truly, 
 Richard Halpin.' 
 
 " Quite an apology," said Mabel, as she handed 
 the letter back ; " but why should he apologize to 
 you, Bessie ? Did he did he hit you ? " 
 
 "Why, Mabel the idea. He thought, I sup 
 pose, that I should blame him for poor Dicky's 
 suffering ; and then, too, I was his only friend." 
 
 "And I suppose you will answer?" 
 
 " Most certainly." 
 
 " Well, Bessie, when your Dick buys the ring 
 he must induce Mr. Breen to select it. Mr. 
 Breen is certainly a judge." Mabel fingered 
 the brilliant, and looked lovingly and proudly 
 at it. 
 
 "If it should come to that, Mabel," answered 
 Bessie, somewhat incoherently, " I think he could 
 choose for himself. There are mother and Anna 
 beckoning," she continued brokenly. " I must 
 leave you, Mabel ; and do come around."
 
 118 MASTERS OF MEN 
 
 "Yes, and do come yourself. I've so many 
 things to tell you. Good-by, dear." 
 
 "Good-by, Mabel." 
 
 They kissed and parted on the corner around 
 which Dick had stalked his officer, Mabel going 
 back to her home with lips tightly pressed, and 
 Bessie joining her mother and sister with a look 
 on her face that brought anxious inquiries as to 
 her health. Neither girl called on the other, and 
 when they met again, they kissed, talked com 
 monplaces, and parted without kissing. "When 
 next they met the kiss was omitted, and the con 
 versation short. Next time, Bessie was looking 
 at a show-window as Mabel came abreast, and 
 on the next occasion this happened to Mabel. 
 Finally, they passed with stately and silent sa 
 lutes. 
 
 From a masculine point of view it was certainly 
 wrong for Bessie to give a false colouring to Dick's 
 ambiguous apology ; but she was a woman ; and 
 women have their OAvn code of honour, which we 
 must not question. 
 
 Instead of writing candidly to Mr. Breen ex 
 plaining Dick's position, as masculine ethics would 
 have prompted, Bessie wrote to Dick, and not 
 being sure of his abiding-place, sent the letter 
 in care of Mr. Breen. The ensign received it, 
 studied the superscription and postmark, swore 
 softly, and sent it by a messenger-boy to Dick,
 
 THE AGE OF IRON 
 
 119 
 
 who, with a sunburst of court-plaster on his brow 
 and dismal gloom in his soul, read it in the light 
 of a bow port. 
 
 It was an angry letter, telling of the diamond 
 ring, and defining Dick's position very clearly ; 
 but as it contained confessions wrung from her 
 maidenly heart, it will not be given here. If 
 Bessie, prompted by the inscrutable feminine 
 code, had hoped that Dick would show it, or 
 hint as to its tenor, to Mr. Breen, the letter failed 
 of its mark; for Dick understood none but the 
 masculine code. 
 
 But the enclosed clipping from the Allmlle 
 Times was certainly meant for Dick's own read 
 ing. It ran as follows : 
 
 Yesterday afternoon a gang of drunken sailors came 
 to our peaceful town, and after a noisy orgie in the 
 whiskey hole run by Timothy Morrisey, began the 
 task of "painting the town." Thanks to the well- 
 known inefficiency of the police force, they almost 
 succeeded. Their first assault was directed at the 
 graduating class of the high school, as a result of 
 which several of its members are now ill in bed from 
 the severity of their injuries. The commencement 
 exercises will probably be postponed. It seems that 
 the ringleader and chief rowdy of the gang is one 
 Richard Halpin, a former member of this class, who 
 was expelled from school four years ago for stealing. 
 He then ran away from home, and now, it seems, 
 returns to wreak his spite upon his innocent and
 
 120 MASTERS OF MEN 
 
 unoffending classmates, and bring added disgrace 
 upon himself if that were possible and on the 
 honoured name which he wears, before the grass has 
 sprouted on the graves of his loving guardians, whose 
 hearts he broke and whose deaths he hastened by his 
 villainy. 
 
 After their attack on the school the drunken horde, 
 first overcoming our police, raved through the streets, 
 smashing windows and maltreating citizens ; then the 
 fire department was called out by the mayor. Our 
 brave firemen would certainly have overcome the 
 rioters but that the appearance of Ensign Breen of 
 the navy, a guest of our mayor, rendered action un 
 necessary. Mr. Breen marched the crowd down to 
 the station with the ruffian Halpin under arrest. Mr. 
 Breen deserves the thanks of the community for his 
 firmness and courage, and it is to be hoped that the 
 fellow Halpin will be severely dealt with on ship 
 board ; but, with the expected reorganization of our 
 police force, we can confidently predict that should 
 he set foot in our town again his reception will be 
 warm. 
 
 Efforts are being made toward the rescinding of 
 Morrisey's license, as the place has too long disgraced 
 the town.
 
 CHAPTER XXI 
 
 ON board the Vermont there were twelve 
 distinct and conflicting accounts of the 
 "hurrah" at Allville given to the ship's com 
 pany ; but Dick, from whom most was expected, 
 had nothing to say nor would he express any 
 interest in Kerrigan's report, reluctantly given, 
 that Devlin and himself had been unable to catch 
 the long-legged Ned Brown. He was a changed 
 young man, and in a very bad way. Not even 
 the proud approval and warm congratulations 
 of Bronson could lift him from the mood that 
 had engulfed him. He despised himself. He 
 had seen glimpses of a life in which he could 
 take no part. He was mentally benumbed, and 
 Bessie's angry letter, with its news of his aunt's 
 and uncle's death, affected him much less than it 
 could have before his trip. Nor did Mr. Breen's 
 later attitude help him. There had been no sum 
 mons to the mast, but the ensign had sent for 
 Dick, and with constrained manner and averted 
 eyes told him that, having learned of certain 
 events of his school-days, connected with his 
 recent conduct, he had decided to make no report 
 
 to the executive officer. It was right, he said, 
 
 121
 
 122 MASTERS OF MEN 
 
 that Dick should know to whom he was indebted. 
 He could thank Miss Arthur. He could go for 
 ward. 
 
 And Dick had sullenly thanked the officer, and 
 had gone forward, trying to hate Mabel. But it 
 was impossible, in spite of what seemed to him to 
 be the nature of her intercession even though 
 she must have told of his disgrace at school. For 
 what else would have so turned Mr. Breen against 
 him? 
 
 Gradually, however, Dick came back to some 
 thing like his old genial self, yet could not, by 
 the time he lined up on the Cob-dock with lashed 
 bag and hammock, one of a draft for the New 
 York, look on Mr. Breen without silent male 
 diction. 
 
 Strong to his resolve to quit the navy when his 
 time expired, he, with others of the draft, had 
 entered early protest against being sent to a for 
 eign station. The protest, usually considered, 
 was ignored, possibly from an inward knowledge 
 among the officers that the New York might 
 remain on the coast ; but this reason was not 
 given to the men, and there was bitter talk of 
 desertion before the ship sailed. Dick, laying 
 this additional grievance at the door of Mr. 
 Breen, who had promised to have him selected 
 from good-will, and had now done it from ill-will, 
 seriously thought of it himself.
 
 THE AGE OF IRON 123 
 
 A few happenings strengthened his half-formed 
 resolution. The New York, a two-masted, three- 
 funnelled armoured cruiser, was taking in the coal 
 discharged before docking. As her bunkers held 
 over twelve hundred tons, it was a long, distaste 
 ful job for the men, and nothing else being re 
 quired of them until the carpenters, calkers, and 
 machinists had finished repairs, the off-watch was 
 allowed daily liberty. Fate and Dick's captain- 
 of-di vision had decreed that he should take his 
 place one morning in the lighter alongside to 
 shovel coal into canvas bags, and hook on the 
 davit whip by which they were hoisted up to the 
 shutes. It was a dirty and dusty job, and, along 
 near noon and knocking-off time, just when he 
 was as dirty, dusty, and black as he could be, he 
 looked up from a filled bag to see Mabel Arthur 
 gazing down on him from the after part of the 
 superstructure-deck. Beside her was Mr. Breen, 
 pointing at him, and farther along were her 
 father and brother inspecting a searchlight. 
 There was little reason to suppose that they 
 could know one grimy shoveller from another at 
 that distance, or that Mabel would have recog 
 nized her own brother so disguised, but Dick 
 looked downward with cheeks burning under the 
 dirt. He had been pointed at, and he felt his 
 humiliation to the full. He shovelled energeti 
 cally for a while, and when forced to straighten
 
 124 MASTERS OF MEN 
 
 his aching back, he looked, not aft, but forward, 
 and there she was, staring down on him from the 
 forward bridge, while Mr. Breen, amidship, was 
 pointing up at the fighting-tops, seemingly ex 
 plaining things to Mr. Arthur and George. Dick 
 hung his head again, and worked, perspiring. 
 He had little false pride, and coaling ship was 
 a necessary evil, but he should have liked to be 
 cleaner when she looked at him not labouring 
 like a longshoreman at the most unsailorly work 
 in the navy. Having climbed into a port to 
 avoid meeting her, he met her again on the lower 
 deck, forward of the engine-room skylight, where 
 the visitors and Mr. Breen were picking their way 
 aft over scattered lumps of coal. 
 
 " Here," cried the officer, sharply ^ " get a broom 
 there's one sweep this gangway clear. Lively 
 now ! " 
 
 He spoke to Dick, but neither he nor the gentle 
 men seemed to know him : though Mabel certainly 
 did, as was evidenced by the fixity of her gaze 
 over his head while he swept coal out of her way, 
 and by the sweetness of the smile she gave the 
 next grimy tar it was Casey who kicked a 
 sleeping pig, the ship's mascot, from her path. 
 
 Raging inwardly, Dick finished the task, flung 
 the broom from him, cleaned up, and ate his 
 dinner. He kept out of sight until two o'clock, 
 when a boatswain's-mate piped the liberty crowd
 
 THE AGE OF IKON 125 
 
 to the quarter-deck; and here, standing in line 
 
 sweet and clean, and good-looking he stared 
 defiantly into her eyes as she watched the men 
 told off. But he could not keep it up ; she joined 
 him in the stare ; his eyes shifted and came back, 
 
 she was still gazing at him, and they sought 
 the deck. He looked again, with the defiance 
 gone, and in place of it, the dumb, pleading look 
 of a spaniel. Then her own eyes dropped, a blush 
 came to her face, and she looked at him no more. 
 She was not conquered in the battle of eyes ; she 
 had merely searched well, and learned what she 
 had not known. 
 
 On the dock Dick gave his name to the cadet 
 in charge of the squad, and obtained permission 
 to visit the Vermont before going out of the 
 yard. He saw Bronson and had a stormy quar 
 ter of an hour with him, at the end of which the 
 latter said gravely, "And I hoped to see you a 
 warrant officer, but you won't have it ; so, go 
 go along, and good luck to you, Dick."
 
 CHAPTEK XXII 
 
 T71ATHER, daughter, and brother left the New 
 J_ York, with Mr. Breen in civilian's clothing 
 and carrying a heavy satchel. The ship lay on 
 the inshore side of the Cob-dock, just around the 
 corner from the Vermont, and a straight side 
 walk led from her gang-plank to the landing of 
 the ferry-scow, a cabined craft which pulled itself 
 by means of a winch-engine back and forth on 
 a stationary chain. Dick Halpin hurried down 
 another walk which led from the Vermont, and 
 boarded the scow just ahead of them. When 
 they entered and sat down amidships he was 
 seated in a forward corner, with his back turned 
 squarely toward them ; but his cap was slued on 
 his head, and the name of his ship on the ribbon 
 was readable. 
 
 "There's one of your men, forward," said 
 George, as Mr. Breen, with a sign of relief, de 
 posited the satchel on the deck. The officer 
 glanced, nodded, and sat down beside Mabel. 
 Other passengers sailors, marines, and workmen 
 crowded in, and Dick was nearly hidden from 
 view. 
 
 126
 
 THE AGE OF IRON 127 
 
 " Does he have to shovel coal ? " asked Mabel in 
 a low voice. " Is that his duty ? " 
 
 " Who do you mean ? " 
 
 She leaned forward, looked at Dick's broad 
 back, and said, " Dick Halpin." 
 
 "Why, yes coaling ship in his turn un 
 less he gets a rating. But he hasn't had time for 
 that. Was he shovelling ? " 
 
 " Didn't you see him ? You pointed right at 
 him down in the boat. He saw us. He must 
 have thought we were talking about him." 
 
 " Didn't see him at all." 
 
 "You ordered him to sweep the floor for us 
 down cellar. Do you always speak to him like 
 that ? " 
 
 " Was that Halpin ? " asked the ensign, with a 
 smile. " They're all alike, sometimes. Certainly. 
 We can't take time to request them to do any 
 thing. We tell them to." 
 
 She was silent; the noise of the chain going 
 over the winch made conversation difficult, and 
 when the scow reached the landing they all arose 
 and crowded forward to step ashore. " Here, my 
 lad," said Mr. Breen, briskly, tapping Dick on the 
 shoulder. " Going out ? Carry this grip for me 
 to the gate eh Halpin." 
 
 Dick turned with a flush on his face that was 
 almost black ; but he touched his cap and took 
 the bag. George smiled cheerfully, but Mr.
 
 128 MASTERS OF MEN 
 
 Breen seemed disturbed and embarrassed. He 
 stepped after Dick with a hand half extended for 
 the burden, but it was too late ; he was on the 
 landing-float, and before the ensign reached it, 
 was swinging up the walk as though anxious to 
 escape from them. Mr. Breen paused and looked 
 at Mabel's face ; but she averted her eyes as she 
 took her father's arm, and he walked to the gate 
 beside her brother. Outside, Dick was waiting. 
 No doubt his training was strong upon him, yet 
 there was a suggestion in the way he was swing 
 ing the bag of a desire to hurl it from him, as 
 he had once thrown his schoolbooks. Mr. Breen 
 approached and relieved him. 
 
 " I didn't know you, Halpin," he said. " Believe 
 me, I had no wish to work you or humiliate you 
 before people you knew." 
 
 The unforgiving Dick turned a sullen face away 
 from him, then back. 
 
 "Wouldn't you like, sir," he said in a voice 
 which, though high-pitched and trembling, was 
 but little louder than the purr of a cat, " that I 
 should polish your shoes? There's still time 
 while I wear this rig." 
 
 " Halpin, you are insolent." 
 
 " Am I, sir ? Perhaps. I happen to be a 
 free-born American in temporary servitude. 
 Not for long, however, though I may finish my 
 time in the brig. Let me suggest, Mr. Breen,
 
 THE AGE OF IRON 129 
 
 tact and wisdom on your part when we meet 
 after that." 
 
 He swung on his heel and strode down the 
 street toward the Brooklyn Bridge. Mr. Breen, 
 biting his lip, returned to his friends, and they 
 boarded the first car that came along, which, 
 being delayed, did not make good time ; so, they 
 mounted the steps to the platform just ahead of 
 Dick, who had walked the distance, and as they 
 seated themselves, Mabel looked at the ensign 
 with an expression that he did not understand, 
 but which brought him to her side. 
 
 " Your friend has given warning," he said, with 
 a troubled look at her. " Going to skip, I judge." 
 
 "What?" 
 
 " Desert." 
 
 "Don't they hang them, or shoot them for 
 that?" 
 
 " Not in time of peace. A man is no good if 
 he doesn't want to stay; so we seldom look for 
 them. The worst that could happen is a couple 
 of years in the Charlestown naval prison. But 
 it's too bad. He's a good man." 
 
 " Good ? Yes, good to put in coal, and sweep, 
 and carry things, and be spoken to as you could 
 not safely speak to a servant," she answered 
 quickly. " But he must not. It's so disgracer 
 ful." 
 
 While the officer was contriving a safe answer
 
 130 MASTERS OF MEN 
 
 to her puzzling comparisons, she arose with resolu 
 tion in her eyes ; then, while he held up a depre 
 catory hand to Mr. Arthur, who was about to 
 speak, she marched out and through the train to 
 where Dick sat alone in the rear car, looking out 
 on the river and shipping. 
 
 " Mr. Halpin," she said, as she took the seat be 
 side him. 
 
 He turned and the anger left his face. Reach 
 ing up awkwardly, he got his cap off and held it 
 in his lap, while he stammered : " Miss Arthur. 
 I didn't how do you do ? " 
 
 " Mr. Breen has just told me that you mean to 
 leave the navy to desert." 
 
 " Yes. I've had enough of it." 
 
 " But you know the consequences ? It will ruin 
 you." 
 
 " It's hard to ruin a foremast hand, Miss 
 Arthur." 
 
 "But the disgrace think of it. Please do 
 not." 
 
 He was silent, and his hand shook as he gripped 
 his cap. 
 
 " You know," she went on, " I was in a way 
 connected with your leaving school and home, and 
 I've always wanted to tell you how sorry and 
 ashamed I was, but you never came back ; and you 
 cannot wonder that I want to see you succeed." 
 
 " There's no success in the navy," he answered
 
 THE AGE OF IRON 131 
 
 doggedly. " The laws forbid it. After years of 
 service and hard study, I might become a boat 
 swain or a gunner, and there I'd stop. And I hate 
 the life. JSTo, Miss Arthur, I'll succeed, I promise 
 you that. I'll meet him yet as an equal." 
 
 "Who?" 
 
 " Mr. Breen ; but I've no chance in the same 
 ship with him. He's got his knife into me now." 
 
 " Does he bully you ? Oh, I noticed I was so 
 sorry. Promise me, please, that you will not de 
 sert. For my sake " 
 
 " I did something once for your sake," he an 
 swered insanely, " and got the worst of it all around. 
 Here's one result. After four years' service I may 
 be body-servant a bag carrier to the man you 
 are to marry." 
 
 She started up, with two very red cheeks, and 
 left him. At the door she halted and turned as 
 though she would have come back, but he was 
 staring sullenly across the car, and the train was 
 entering the New York terminal. So she joined 
 the others. 
 
 " I can do nothing with him," she said to Mr. 
 Breen. " He is angry and he never has for 
 given me. But you can reason with him." 
 
 "I? Why should I?" 
 
 " You must. You have ill-treated him. There 
 he goes now between the cars ; hurry." 
 
 " But why 3 What for ? What am I to do "
 
 132 MASTERS OF MEN 
 
 " Catch him. Talk with him. Explain what I 
 cannot. Apologize to him. Yes, you. Put aside 
 your dignity for him for me. Please hurry. 
 Oh, please. He turned up the street." 
 
 " Pm in for it," said the officer, dryly. " All 
 right ; I'll do all I can for him. Here, Mr. Arthur, 
 will you please leave the grip in the parcel-room 
 at the station, with my name. I'll report, Miss 
 Arthur, if I live through it ; but I ought to have 
 some brass knuckles, or a club. Good day." 
 
 He hastened on and up Park Row after the 
 tall blue figure which he could see over the heads 
 of the crowd. " One sometimes wonders," he 
 muttered as he dodged along, " just what consti 
 tutes conduct becoming an officer and a gentle 
 man. As an officer, I ought to call a policeman ; 
 as a gentleman, I must do as I'm bid like a little 
 man run after this unlicked scrapper, pat him 
 on the back, soothe his injured feelings, and for 
 ever lose his respect for me as an officer." 
 
 He took his eyes off Dick for a moment or 
 two as the crowd impeded him, and when he 
 looked again he was not in sight.
 
 CHAPTER XXIII 
 
 WHEN Dick had left the car he hurried past 
 the others and up Park Row in the mood 
 of an Apache at a torture-bee. He had given 
 pain, and savagely he rejoiced. What right had 
 she, in her insolence of beauty and position, to 
 patronize and pity him ? He wanted none of her 
 pity. 
 
 But underneath this raging was an obtruding 
 consciousness that he had acted like a sulky boy, 
 and for a moment it took charge of his soul for 
 a moment he would have rushed through fire to 
 reach her and humble himself, and in this moment 
 he turned to go back, to follow her home if nec 
 essary ; but he saw Mr. Breen pushing toward him 
 
 through the crowd. " D n him," he growled ; 
 
 " why don't she send her precious brother too ? " 
 He darted into the nearest doorway ; it was 
 a pawnshop with another entrance on William 
 Street, and passing through he doubled back, and 
 by a passageway alongside the bridge reached 
 Park Row again at the foot of the entrance. They 
 were not in sight, and he paused. 
 
 " No," he muttered, " I'll fight it out to the end. 
 I'll prove myself good as she or her ensign." 
 
 133
 
 134 MASTERS OF MEN 
 
 He was less savage now, but more consistent in 
 his resolve, and he crossed City Hall Park, found 
 a barber shop and had his hair cut. The re 
 sult, as he looked in the mirror, did not please 
 him. His features seemed larger and coarser, and 
 near the borders of the cropped hair were white 
 streaks of skin that had been shaded from the sun. 
 " Spotted like a brindle cow," he grumbled, " till 
 I bleach out ; but I've got to be civilized." In a 
 near-by clothing store he bought a suit, hat, linen, 
 and neckwear, which he donned in the dressing- 
 room, and then stepped into the street with his 
 uniform in a bundle, almost unrecognizable to a 
 shipmate. 
 
 He would pawn his uniform ; but unwillingness 
 to meet Mr. Breen prevented him seeking one of 
 the numerous pawnshops in Park Row, so he 
 recrossed the Park, went east below the bridge, 
 turned north, and in Catherine Street, down near 
 the river, found a pawnbroker who advanced five 
 dollars on the suit. He would have purchased it 
 outright for ten, for it was of the finest cloth and 
 flannel, stitched and starred and crow-footed with 
 silk ; but down in Dick's rebellious heart was the 
 man-of-war's-man's love for his mustering-clothes, 
 and he refused to sell. When he was established 
 as a landsman and a gentleman, it would be a 
 pleasant reminder of the life he had escaped. 
 
 It was growing dark when he left the pawnshop.
 
 THE AGE OF IRON 135 
 
 The wind was rising, and damp snow filled the air, 
 which, melting underfoot, made a dirty slush that 
 wet his feet in a block's walk. He regretted not 
 buying rubber overshoes, not because wet feet 
 were unusual, or troubled him in the least, but be 
 cause he must now act and feel like a citizen ; he 
 must also have an umbrella, and when he had ob 
 tained money, an overcoat, which he would wear 
 through the winter whether he was cold or not. 
 
 His humiliation and anger at noon had pre 
 vented him eating much at dinner, and feeling 
 hungry now, and reasoning that Mr. Breen could 
 not remain very long in Park Row, he tramped 
 through the slush to this street of cheap restau 
 rants ; for he must economize until he found work. 
 Before a huge dish of hot corn-beef hash, he re 
 signed himself to the luxury of being a landsman. 
 " Think of the way mess cooks spoil good grub," 
 he mused as he ate. " Couldn't cook like this if 
 you paid them. Four years and a half in the navy 
 where you think by regulation with a boss 
 at each hatchway. No more for me. Ashore a 
 man has one boss, and sleeps in a bedroom with 
 a window in it." 
 
 He was again in the street, the warmth of the 
 restaurant behind him, the damp chill of the storm 
 all about him. He must find a boarding-house, 
 and look for work in the morning. Nothing 
 better of the first presented than one of the twenty-
 
 136 MASTERS OF MEN 
 
 five-cent lodging-houses on the Bowery, so he 
 sought one, and sat in the reading-room to wait 
 for bedtime. About him were all manner of men, 
 in all stages of poverty all out of work, as evi 
 denced by their depressing, half-hearted conversa 
 tion. These men were .not succeeding on shore, 
 and some were well educated and intelligent. He 
 tried to read a newspaper, but gave it up; for, 
 either from his well-filled stomach which was 
 beginning to distress him or from the backward 
 swing of the mental pendulum, he could not keep 
 his mind off the day's happenings. He saw her 
 face, with its new expression. He shut his eyes to 
 see it smiling from the window of her home, but 
 the vision would not come ; all he could see was 
 shock, and pain, and embarrassment the red 
 spots on the cheeks. 
 
 In five minutes the reaction had set in strong ; 
 and he reviled himself, doubting his sanity again 
 in the agonies of dejection and self-contempt. He 
 understood the full force of his brutal speech, not 
 in its effect on her, for he had' never dreamed 
 that she had cleared him of the charge which em 
 bittered his life, but as it appealed to his man 
 hood and sense of fair play. Then his love for 
 her arose in its strength to punish him. She had 
 come, voluntarily, and apologized for a childish 
 fault, in order that she might beg him, for her sake, 
 not to brand himself with the stain that could in
 
 THE AGE OF IRON 137 
 
 no wise reach her. What did it mean ? he asked 
 himself. There flashed over his mind a momen 
 tary thought that it meant love for him ; but he 
 put the thought from him as impossible not for 
 a brute like him. It was her generous nobility of 
 soul acting in spite of his oft-repeated boorishness. 
 
 He arose and went out into the storm, fighting 
 his way against it to Catherine Street, down which 
 he turned, only to find the pawnshop closed ; for it 
 was after six o'clock. He was disappointed ; he 
 would have resumed his uniform and gone aboard 
 the ship that evening, to take up the burden she 
 had asked of him ; and it now meant a night in 
 the lodging-house, which, in his present mood, was 
 repugnant to him. He went slowly back, for he 
 was not feeling well ; the dull pain in his stomach 
 had increased, and, under a lamp-post, a sudden 
 fierce gripe brought him up, half bent over, and 
 clinging to the iron post for support. A passer-by 
 touched him on the shoulder. It was Mr. Breen, 
 wet and bedraggled, with a tired, angry face. 
 
 "This you, Halpin? So you've done it, have 
 you?" 
 
 "No, Mr. Breen," gasped the subdued Dick. 
 " I've changed my mind. I'm going aboard in the 
 morning, when I get my clothes." 
 
 " You're going back," said the disgusted oflicer. 
 "If I'd known that I'd have done something better 
 with my time than searching every dive in sailor-
 
 138 MASTERS OF MEN 
 
 town for you. May I ask you, in all due humility, 
 what has changed your mind ? " 
 
 " May I ask you, sir," said Dick, speaking with 
 difficulty, " why you waste your time looking for 
 me?" 
 
 " Because a lady asked me to." 
 
 "That is why I serve my time, sir 
 because she asked me O, Lord ! " 
 
 " What's the matter with you ? Halpin, what 
 ails you ? " 
 
 " Stomach-ache, sir. I ate some Park Row 
 hash." 
 
 The young officer grinned in spite of his mood. 
 " You want some peppermint, or ginger, 1 should 
 say. Come around the corner, Halpin. It's a 
 tough joint I was just there but the nearest, 
 and any port in a storm."
 
 CHAPTER XXIY 
 
 IT was not an ill-looking place, as saloons go, to 
 which Mr. Breen assisted Dick. The barroom 
 was small and the bar short, but it was neat and 
 clean. Around the walls were prints and models of 
 ships, brigs and schooners, and on the shelf back 
 of the bar was the inevitable full-rigged ship in a 
 bottle. The floor was covered with clean sawdust, 
 and two round tables, with chairs and convenient 
 cuspidors, crowded the small space available. At 
 one table sat three men, stupid with drink. Their 
 nondescript dress, gathered in parts from the sea 
 ports of two hemispheres, betrayed the merchant 
 sailor, and their blonde heads and red faces their 
 Scandinavian birth. They glanced with dead eyes 
 at the two newcomers and went back to their med 
 itations and mutterings. Two men, sober, hard- 
 faced, and keen eyed, arose from the other table 
 and stepped into a rear room, but were called back 
 by the man behind the bar a large, brawny 
 fellow, with beetling eyebrows and a long pointed 
 nose. 
 
 " Want to sit down, gents ? " he said. " Good 
 fire in the back room. Bad day, ain't it ? " 
 
 " Yes," said the ensign, whose glance at the 
 
 139
 
 140 MASTERS OF MEN 
 
 table seemed to have prompted the man's sugges 
 tion. "This my friend here is sick. Bring 
 two hot whiskeys, and put a good dose of ginger 
 in one." 
 
 " Yes, sir. I'll fix 'im up." 
 
 Dick was in dire pain, unable to stand erect, 
 and too humble of mind and weak of will to resist 
 or resent the officer's assistance. They sat down 
 close to a hot stove in the back room, which, besides 
 the table and chairs, contained no furniture or 
 decorations. A door in the side of the wall seemed 
 to lead to another room and a stairway to the 
 floor above. 
 
 " Sailors' boarding-house, sir," groaned Dick as 
 he collapsed on the table. 
 
 The hot stimulants arrived and were quickly 
 consumed ; then Mr. Breen studied the ghastly face 
 opposite him. 
 
 " Feel better, Halpin ? " he asked at length. 
 
 "Yes, sir a little." 
 
 " It isn't often, Halpin, that an officer gets a 
 chance to hobnob with a blue-jacket ; but I want 
 to talk with you, and you seem to need it. Cir 
 cumstances have brought us into contact lately in 
 ways not prescribed by the regulations ; and I have 
 noticed an antagonism on your part which I have 
 tried not to earn. Now, I want to ask you is it 
 because I surprised you the other day at a time 
 when number three makes a crowd ? "
 
 THE AGE OF IRON 141 
 
 " "Well, sir," answered Dick, evasively, preferring 
 this view of the case to stand rather than confess 
 his jealousy, " Bess Miss the young lady felt 
 very badly." 
 
 " Naturally " said the ensign, with a short, dry 
 laugh. 
 
 " And then, sir," went on Dick, more truthfully, 
 " you put me under arrest in my own town, when 
 I thought and I still think that I was in the 
 right. Then, to-day, you showed me up before 
 my worst enemy. There's an old difference be 
 tween George Arthur and myself." 
 
 " I cannot ask nor receive any confidences re 
 garding Mr. Arthur ; nor do I wish to probe into 
 your private affairs; but, at times what's the 
 matter ? Are you worse ? " 
 
 Dick had lost all sense of gravitation and physi 
 cal adjustment. The walls were moving around 
 him and separating from each other and the ceil 
 ing. The table seemed tilted, and he gripped it 
 by the edges to prevent it slipping away, while 
 Mr. Breen's earnest face was above him looking 
 down. 
 
 " Hang my fool tongue," muttered the ensign. 
 " The Lord only knows what's back of this mix. 
 And and what ails me, I wonder. Stove 
 too hot I'm light-headed. Let's get out, Hal- 
 pin." 
 
 Dick painfully sat erect, lurched backward,
 
 142 MASTERS OF MEN 
 
 pulled himself forward with his hands and got on 
 his feet, only to sink into the chair again. 
 
 "I'm drugged, thir," he said thickly. "Look 
 outh board'-houthe-crimpth shanghai." He 
 slid sidewise to the floor and lay still. 
 
 The officer scrambled to his feet and staggered 
 to the door, but found it locked. 
 
 " Police ! " he yelled. " Police ! " And grabbing 
 table and chairs for support, he made his way to 
 the side door, which also was locked. 
 
 " Dry up in there," said a voice from the bar 
 room. 
 
 The ensign answered incoherently, reeled across 
 the room, and fell to the floor ; then the door 
 opened and the bartender appeared, followed by 
 the two men he had called back. 
 
 " Shut the door," he snarled. " Them Souwe- 
 gians ain't none too full." 
 
 He searched the pockets of the unconscious men, 
 removed what was of value, and said : 
 
 " Up stairs wid 'em. Get 'em ready and get 
 them two bags in the closet for 'em. Hurry up, 
 now. Tug's goin' down at eight. If they want 
 more dope, sing out." 
 
 He went out, unlocked the front door, looked at 
 the three stupid men at the table, took his place 
 behind the bar, and the saloon resumed business. 
 
 That evening a tug steamed down the bay 
 through the storm. In the warm pilot-house, be-
 
 THE AGE OF IRON 143 
 
 sides the tug captain, were a shipmaster, a Sandy 
 Hook pilot, and a boarding-house runner one of 
 the two men who had got Dick and his officer 
 " ready." Blood money paid by captains for sail 
 ors is not due until the goods are delivered ; so 
 this runner, as he explained to the tug captain, was 
 going down with the two men, who had signed 
 articles that morning, had " jumped their allot 
 ment," got drunk and been caught, and now lay 
 on the forward deck in the sleet and snow with 
 their heads pillowed on their clothes bags sleep 
 ing it off. 
 
 Before midnight, a ship put to sea ; and before 
 she was two days out the whole world had arisen 
 to the news that the United States battle-ship 
 Maine had been destroyed in Havana harbor.
 
 BOOK III 
 
 BARBARISM 
 CHAPTER XXY 
 
 "TTEY, below, there! Hey, below! What's 
 
 I 1 the matter? Hey? Heave out heave 
 out. Out on deck wi' ye ! " Dick heard diml\% 
 groaned from the pain in his head and joints, and 
 rolling over, went to sleep again. 
 
 It was perhaps not a minute, but it seemed to 
 him hours later when a hard fist knuckled his 
 throat and he felt himself being dragged forcibly 
 outward and downward to a bone-wrenching 
 collapse on the floor. Then again he heard the 
 angry, strident voice : 
 
 " Get out on deck to yer work, ye bloody . 
 
 Out wi' ye, or I'll make ye wish ye're in h 1." 
 
 "What is it what's up? " he asked brokenly, 
 as he looked up at a figure standing over him in 
 the flickering light of a flare lamp. Around him 
 were bunks, and on the stanchions between them 
 hung oilskins, coats, and clothes bags. From the 
 open door at the end of the apartment the cold 
 wind of a bleak morning came in, chilly and 
 damp. 
 
 144
 
 BARBARISM 145 
 
 " Get out o' this and clap on to them flyin'-jib 
 hal'ards," bellowed the man above him. " Quick, 
 or I'll lift ye." 
 
 Dick was not quick, either in his movements 
 or in his mental processes; his head was aching 
 and his brain reeling from the effects of the 
 drug, and even the fall to the floor had not thor 
 oughly awakened him ; so he was " lifted " a 
 few inches, at least and rolled a foot nearer the 
 door by the impact of a heavy boot ; but it was 
 a rubber boot, and no bones were broken. Arising 
 unsteadily, he yielded to the pushes and punches 
 of the other and staggered through the door to 
 the deck without, where, to the music of flapping 
 canvas, whistling wind, and their own discordant 
 calls, men were setting the flying jib. 
 
 " Get a holt o' them halyards," came the voice 
 of authority in his ear, followed by a blow that 
 launched him nearly headlong into the group 
 of men hoisting the sail. He was accustomed to 
 obey, but not to being struck ; and when thor 
 oughly awake and able to remember the events 
 of the night before, and to realize that he was 
 now at sea, on board a large, square-rigged ship, 
 he asked the man nearest him for an explana 
 tion. 
 
 "What ye growlin' 'bout, matey?" answered 
 the man. "Ye've just run foul o' the bucko second 
 mate the boy bucko. We've been doin' the
 
 146 MASTERS OF MEN 
 
 same all night. He's big enough, but too young 
 for the noise he makes." 
 
 "Then I've been shanghaied," groaned Dick. 
 " Is Mr. Breen aboard ? " 
 
 "Who yer side partner? He's aft wi' the 
 other watch. Oh, ye've struck a sweet ship, 
 matey. Been to sea before ? " 
 
 " In the navy." 
 
 " Whew both o' ye ? The Lord help ye then, 
 till ye larn yer work." 
 
 " Dry up that guff at the hal'ards," bawled the 
 officer from amidships. 
 
 " Aye, aye, sir," answered the man cheerfully. 
 "Up with her, lads. Up wi' that headsail. Take 
 a hold here, matey," he added in a lower tone to 
 Dick. "Take a hold, or ye'll have him at ye 
 again." 
 
 And Dick pretended to pull on the halyards 
 which was all that he could do in his demoralized 
 condition. The sail was soon up, and they trimmed 
 down the sheet at the noisy behest of the officer. 
 Then they were all driven aft to assist others of 
 the crew in mast-heading the mizzen topsail-yard. 
 The strong, fresh breeze was rapidly clearing 
 Dick's benumbed faculties, and as he hauled with 
 the others, he searched his memory in the effort 
 to locate the second mate's voice. He had heard 
 it somewhere, he was sure, but could not remember 
 where, and though daylight was breaking on the
 
 BARBARISM 147 
 
 lee beam, it was still too dark to distinguish 
 features. Indeed, it was only when the second 
 mate called, to them to " bend their backs," and 
 he muttered something in reply, that he became 
 aware that the unkempt figure just in front of 
 him on the rope was Mr. Breen. 
 
 "None of that, Halpin," said the latter in an 
 undertone. " Keep your mouth closed tight until 
 I can talk with you. They've put us in separate 
 watches. Roused me out at midnight." 
 
 " Yery good, sir," answered Dick. 
 
 " And don't ' sir ' me here. Do as they tell you, 
 and say nothing. We're in a bad fix." 
 
 Though the air was now clear of snow, and the 
 storm of the night before had sufficiently moder- . 
 ated to permit the carrying of all three topsails, 
 maintopgallant-sail, and flying jib, there was still 
 a force to the fitful puffs of the westerly wind 
 and a snap to the offshore sea which hammered 
 the ship and made more sail inadvisable. So 
 when the mizzentopsail was up and the yard 
 braced, a bellowing roar sounded from the poop- 
 deck: "Relieve the wheel and lookout. That'll 
 do the watch." 
 
 " Your watch on deck, youngster," said Dick's 
 friend, as they coiled up the gear. "No choice 
 between ye when we lifted ye up the side ; but 
 the mate picked yer chum and the second mate 
 picked you. Wonder where the bloody mate is.
 
 148 MASTERS OF MEN 
 
 Haven't heard his yap this watch, but he was 
 busy enough up to midnight." 
 
 " What ship is this," asked Dick, " and where's 
 she bound ? " 
 
 "Mary Earl, o' Bath, Cap'n Bilker, o' Cape 
 Cod. Ever hear o' him ? First mate's another 
 Cape Cod murderer, and second mate's a bran' 
 new bucko just out o' the boy's-room, I take it 
 not used to bossin' men, an' not more'n half a sea 
 man, but a jim-hickey with his fists. Guess you 
 an' me an' yer chum are the only Americans for- 
 rard. We're goin' out to Hong Kong. My name's 
 Sawyer, o' Hoboken, an' I go to sea to keep out 
 o' Jersey. How'd ye come to be shanghaied ? " 
 
 " Knockout drops." 
 
 " That's bad. Stick to yer own board in'-house. 
 Ye'll be robbed all right, anywhere, but yer won't 
 be doped if yer 'greeable. Guess we'll get some 
 coffee soon what they call coffee, I mean ; the 
 doctor's turned out." 
 
 Others had coiled up the rest of the gear and 
 the two went forward, Dick observing in the 
 gathering light that Sawyer was a tall, loose- 
 jointed man with a hooked nose and a rather 
 humorous cast of countenance. The "doctor" 
 was up, smoke was corning from the galley chim 
 ney, and the watch on deck were grouped under 
 the weather-rail near the fore rigging, evidently 
 waiting for the early coffee served in all American
 
 BARBARISM 149 
 
 ships at "turn-to." The other watch had gone 
 below, but as Dick joined the group the ensign 
 appeared at the forward corner of the house 
 and beckoned to him. He followed to the top 
 sail-sheet bitts just forward of the foremast, and 
 here, in an open space which precluded listening, 
 Mr. Breen said in a low voice : 
 
 " Know anything about the American hellship r 
 Halpin?" 
 
 "No, sir only what I've heard." 
 
 " Drop the ' sir ' while we're here. Fix the 
 habit upon you, or you'll get us both into trouble. 
 This is a hellship, and the hellship is the blackest 
 shame resting upon America. I've had enough 
 at least, all I dare to risk. I went aft and pro 
 tested to the captain when they roused me out 
 at midnight, stating that I was a naval officer. 
 I was kicked around the poop-deck and thrown 
 down to the main deck. Believe me ? Not a bit. 
 Thought I was drunk and to tell the truth, my 
 speech at the time would bear out such a construc 
 tion. "We're in rags. I've got a bagful more of 
 them, and suppose you have, too, unless some one 
 has stolen them. Now, this much I know, from 
 what I have seen and heard : the mere presence 
 in the forecastle of an educated man is a continu 
 ous menace to the brutes who command and officer 
 such ships as this, and is warrant enough for them 
 to murder him ; for they know that he is apt
 
 150 MASTERS OF MEN 
 
 to make trouble ashore. As the law now stands 
 they can punish an insolent sailor with a blow, 
 and if he returns it, they may kill him. I cannot 
 convince them of my identity neither can you. 
 So I shall resent no insults until I am able to act; 
 and as for you, do as you're told, keep out of 
 trouble, for I may want you in a hurry, keep 
 your mouth shut, call me by my last name, and 
 don't let them see us together too often." 
 
 Before Dick could reply the ensign was gone ; 
 so Dick secured another man's tin pot and his own 
 share of the coffee, which had been brought to the 
 port forecastle. It was vile stuff to begin with, 
 and had been rendered viler by the molasses stirred 
 in to sweeten it ; but it was hot, and it warmed 
 Dick's chilled and aching body, and cleared more 
 of the fog from his brain, so that by the time a 
 rasping "Turn to, there. Buckets and brooms. 
 Get out that deck-pump forrard there " came from 
 amidships, he began to feel a lively interest in the 
 speaker the man who had dragged him from 
 his sleep and struck him. He watched the giant 
 figure lumbering forward, and even stepped into 
 his path for a better view of his face. He knew 
 him. It was Pig Jones.
 
 CHAPTER XXYI 
 
 PIG JONES, four years older, grown to man's 
 physique, and with the facial characteristics 
 slanting forehead, protruding chin, and small 
 squinting eyes which had given him his nick 
 name among the boys, developed into as un 
 pleasant a combination as may go toward the 
 make-up of the human countenance. It was a 
 brutal, sensual, cruel face a face bearing a 
 standing invitation to an honest fist, one that 
 most men would feel pleasure in striking. And 
 as Dick backed toward the bucket rack at the 
 foremast, it followed him with a leering expres 
 sion strongly impregnated with curiosity, wonder, 
 and doubt. 
 
 " Hey, you ! " he cried, in a tone as unpleasant 
 as his face; "you the man I pulled out at eight 
 bells? "What's your name?" 
 
 " Billson, sir," answered Dick, remembering the 
 ensign's injunction as to caution, and influenced 
 in his choice of a name by the momentary com 
 parison with his late antagonist which the officer's 
 giant figure had aroused. 
 
 "Billson, hey? You look bloody like a plug- 
 
 151
 
 152 MASTERS OF MEN 
 
 ugly I went to school with. Look out ye don't 
 look more like him, or I'll take it out o' you." 
 
 " Aye, aye, sir," returned Dick, submissively, as 
 he took down a couple of buckets. The officer 
 stepped toward him, searching his immovable face 
 for any hint of sarcasm behind the answer, and 
 finding none, thundered forceful objurgations to 
 the rest to "get that deck-pump aft." 
 
 In the washing down of the deck that morning 
 the second mate watched Dick continuously, and 
 so impressed him with his suspicions that, when 
 opportunity offered, he requested Sawyer to tell 
 no one that he was a man-of-war's-man ; for he 
 had reason to believe that Pig had known of his 
 choice of a career. And when the watch turned 
 out at seven bells he apprised the ensign of his 
 change of name and his reasons. 
 
 " One of the gang, Halpin ? Well, if we are 
 any good you and I you'll have a chance at 
 him before long. And perhaps not with your 
 fists. I'll do murder before I'll submit to this. 
 Now, Billson, get to work; here comes our 
 superior officer." 
 
 Mr. Jones was coming forward. The ensign 
 stepped into the forecastle to his breakfast, and 
 Dick resumed his deck-swabbing. There was 
 strong cause for the ensign's bitter tone and 
 murderous mind. You cannot drug, rob, and strip 
 a naval officer, dress him in greasy rags, swear at
 
 BARBARISM 153 
 
 him and kick him until he is willing to pull wet, 
 hard ropes through a stormy mid-watoh, and have 
 him in the mood of the gentleman temperate of 
 mind and refined of speech. Dick was now the 
 milder of the two. At eight bells his watch was 
 relieved and he went to breakfast, manufactured 
 coffee and cracker hash, the latter an unsavory 
 mess of broken hardtack and gristly beef, soaked 
 over-night and baked brown. Confiscating as his 
 own a last voyage pot with pan and spoon, he 
 helped himself, wondering, as he forced the stuff 
 down, how the well-fed ensign had succeeded ; 
 and there came to him a momentary feeling 
 of ungenerous and anarchistic joy that this pet 
 of society and the government knew now what 
 sailors must eat. The mood was but transient, 
 and left him with the filling of his stomach, so 
 that when a loud summons for all hands to muster 
 at the break of the poop came in through the door, 
 he walked aft with the crowd of men, fully pre 
 pared to enter into any defensive and offensive 
 alliance which Mr. Breen might propose. 
 
 He had rummaged the bedless bunk in which 
 he slept off his stupor, finding a damp canvas bag 
 filled with grimy working clothes, and a damp 
 and greasy cap, which he had donned ; but there 
 was no time to change the rags he wore drenched 
 by the storm in the ride down in the tug for dry 
 ones, and he stood in that dishevelled crew perhaps
 
 154 MASTERS OF MEN 
 
 the sorriest looking of all. The carpenter seemed 
 prosperous, and the cook shone in immaculate 
 white ; but the men were badly blest, by nature 
 and fate. Here and there showed a clean article 
 of apparel, a new cap or hat, shaming the gar 
 ments beneath, a new pair of rubber boots, a 
 new sou'wester, or a new sheath-knife and belt. 
 But aside from these they wore the patched, 
 fringed, and tar-bespoiled garments of their last 
 voyage, and on each face was a common expres 
 sion of earnestness and hopelessness. Over their 
 heads arose the Roman nose and humorous eye of 
 Sawyer, and in the front rank stood Ensign Breen 
 of the United States navy, picturesque in his vest 
 ments, and with a countenance as woe-begone as 
 it is possible for a shanghaied graduate of Annap 
 olis to assume. The steward was at the wheel, 
 and scowling down on them from the poop were 
 Mr. Jones and a gray-bearded man who wore a 
 slouch hat and long pilotcloth overcoat, in the 
 pockets of which he kept his hands. They needed 
 no introduction to know the captain of the ship. 
 He slowly scanned each of the twenty men's 
 faces, paced a few turns fore and aft on the poop, 
 then brought himself up squarely against the 
 monkey-rail, his hands still in his pockets. 
 
 "My name's Bilker," he said slowly and im 
 pressively ; then, after a moment's silence, he re 
 peated in a louder voice, "my name's Bilker."
 
 BARBARISM 155 
 
 The men shuffled their feet uneasily under his 
 stare, but none answered. 
 
 " I'm John Bilker, o' Provincetown," continued 
 the captain, "and I've sailed ships out o' N'York 
 and Boston for twenty -five years ; and I 'low that 
 in all that time I never let any measly gang o' 
 gentlemen rope-haulers get the best o' me. You 
 
 hear me ? You hear what I say, you pack o' 
 
 poor men's dogs." 
 
 He took another walk along the deck and re 
 turned. Dick glanced over at the ensign to note 
 the effect of this language on him ; but his de 
 jected face was non-commital. 
 
 " In all my goin' to sea," went on the captain, 
 his voice rising, " I never seen a worse lot o' beach 
 combers and river-thieves. There ain't a whole 
 man among you there ain't half a man ; but 
 there's a murderin' scoundrel among you that I 
 want. Last night, along 'bout six bells o' the 
 middle watch, my first officer, all fagged out 
 from tryin' to get sail on a ship with a crew 
 that don't know a buntline from a sheet, was 
 woke up by a sneakin' thief goin' through his 
 desk. Yes, sir a sneakin', bloody-minded thief 
 that tried to kill him, too, 'fore he got thor 
 oughly woke up. Then he ran out on deck and 
 forrard to the rest o' you. And that pore man 
 is down there groanin', with his arm broken at 
 the elbow, while the murderin' thief that done
 
 156 MASTERS OF MEN 
 
 it is among you, laughin' in his sleeve, and 
 wishin' he'd finished his bloody work. Now, I 
 want that man to step out and own up." 
 
 Not a man stirred. They looked at one another 
 with inquiry in their faces, then up at their cap 
 tain, only to fall back, crouching, and scattering 
 to the right and left, with involuntary raising of 
 arms to screen their faces. Bilker had brought 
 his hands out of his pockets, and in each was a 
 bright revolver. 
 
 " Shove him out," he thundered as he levelled 
 the pistols. " Give up that low-down scoundrel. 
 I'll show him what he can do and what he can't 
 
 do. Quick, you dock rats, or I'll hurt some 
 
 o' you." 
 
 "Hold on, Cap'n," said Sawyer. 
 
 " Are you the man ? Come out here." 
 
 " No, Cap'n, I'm not," said the sailor, stepping 
 bravely up to the poop steps. " I'm no thief, an' 
 if I was, I wouldn't be fool enough hold on, sir ; 
 I wish you'd point 'em t'other way, sir. They 
 might go off. What I want to say, Cap'n, if ye'll 
 'xcuse me, is that yer takin' a mighty poor way 
 to get that thief, whoever he is. Ye begin by 
 damnin' us all 'round, an' that nat'rally works 
 men up against ye, and then ye pull yer guns. 
 Now, what man's goin' to own up in the face 
 o' threats o' bein' shot?" 
 
 " None o' your back lip. Don't you talk to me.
 
 BARBARISM 157 
 
 Come up here on the poop. I swear I think you 
 know all about it." 
 
 Sawyer ascended the steps, was collared by Mr. 
 Jones, and hurled against the forward cabin com 
 panion, near which he remained, with the second 
 officer watching him out of the corner of his eye. 
 
 " Where's that counter-jumper who comes aft 
 when work's goin' on swearin' he's an officer in 
 the navy ? " demanded the captain. His eye wan 
 dered over the crowd and settled on Mr. Breen. 
 
 "You the man?" he inquired, straightening 
 one pistol toward him. 
 
 " It might have been me, sir," answered the 
 ensign, mournfully. "Please don't shoot me, 
 sir. I had dreams, sir. I have been drugged 
 and kidnapped on this boat, sir, but I haven't 
 done any harm, sir." 
 
 Dick was astounded, but held himself together ; 
 and the captain, searching keenly the sorrowful 
 face beneath his gun, said: "Dreams? What 
 you drivin' at?" 
 
 " I've always dreamed, sir, that I was an officer 
 in the navy, and I was having such a dream when 
 I waked up on that stage up there, sir, and you 
 were kicking me." 
 
 " You're no sailor. What's your trade ? " 
 
 "I'm a gentleman's man, sir." 
 
 "What?" roared the captain. 
 
 "A gentleman's man, sir a valet. I cook
 
 158 MASTERS OF MEN 
 
 welsh rabbits late at night for my master, and 
 I wake him up in the morning, and see to his 
 bawth, and sometimes I shave him, and I always 
 have to press his trousers, and answer the bell " 
 
 " That is, you're a flunkey." 
 
 "That's what they call us in England, sir."' 
 
 "Well," answered the Captain, thoughtfully 
 and contemptuously, " I guess you didn't break 
 my first mate's arm." He put his pistols in 
 his pockets and turned to Sawyer. 
 
 " You an American ? " 
 
 "Yes, sir, an American," answered Sawyer, 
 vehemently. "An American and an able sea 
 man ; and I've held command I'm no fool to 
 break into a first mate's room in this kind of a 
 ship 'fore I'm twenty-four hours aboard." 
 
 " Held command ? What in ? " 
 
 "Sound schooners, sir. I'm no navigator, but 
 I'm no fool thief " 
 
 " Get down on deck. Find out who broke Mr. 
 Thorpe's arm and I'll make you third mate." 
 
 Sawyer answered respectfully and descended, 
 while Captain Bilker ordered Mr. Jones to set the 
 fore and mizzen topgallant sails, relieve the steward 
 at the wheel, and dismiss the starboard watch. 
 No doubt Sawyer's logic had convinced him. 
 
 Later on Sawyer said to Dick : " Make me third 
 mate, would he? If I knew the hero that broke 
 that man-driver's arm, I'd be a father to him."
 
 CHAPTER XXYII 
 
 DICK would have talked further with Mr. 
 Breen before turning in, but, on looking 
 around for him, discovered that he was aft at 
 the wheel; so he changed his clothes, arranged 
 what was dry of his baggage beneath and above 
 him for bedding, and slept until noon, waking at 
 the stroke of eight bells practically recovered from 
 the effects of the drug. On going aft to the gal 
 ley at Sawyer's sleepy command from an upper 
 bunk to " get the grub, youngster," he found that 
 Mr. Breen had suffered later injury which had not 
 yet come to him. He was at the galley door saw 
 ing wood for the cook, and his handsome face was 
 disfigured by a black eye. 
 
 " Kicked and thumped away from the wheel for 
 bad steering and for not knowing the compass," 
 he said cautiously, in answer to Dick's look of 
 inquiry. " Inconvenient and unpleasant, but nec 
 essary ; I'm an ignorant landsman. Remember 
 your part : do your work, as a sailor, and avoid 
 all trouble. See me in the last dog-watch. Go 
 ahead, now. Get your dinner." 
 
 He shifted the stick of cordwood along the 
 sawbuck and sawed; for Sawyer unknown by 
 
 159
 
 160 MASTERS OF MEN 
 
 him was coming to help Dick bring the dinner. 
 At the same time the carpenter, with a bundle 
 of oakum under his arm and a heavy calking 
 mallet over his shoulder, appeared around the 
 corner of the house on the way to his shop, just 
 forward of the galley. The carpenter paused 
 before the pile of wood at the moment the 
 cook's black face appeared in the galley door. 
 He was a particularly evil-faced negro, and the 
 geniality of his race seemed denied him ; for he 
 looked sourly at Sawyer and Dick, saying: 
 
 "Don't stand 'round my door axin' fool quesh- 
 uns, now. Dah's you poke an' peas gov'ment 
 whack fo' all ban's fo'ward till you gibs up de 
 t'ief. Take it an' gwan." 
 
 "What's this?" asked Sawyer, angrily, as he 
 sniffed the mess in the dishpan handed out to 
 him. "Government 'lowance ain't much worse 
 than the regular thing; but why don't you sift 
 out the maggots 'fore you cook up last v'yage 
 peas ? " 
 
 " Don't you talk to me, you no 'count trash. 
 Don't you tell me how to cook, or I cut you all 
 up ; you see ? " 
 
 He reached behind him and showed a sharp 
 carving knife ; and the fuming Sawyer went for 
 ward with his pan, while Dick cautiously picked 
 up the pan of boiled salt pork. Turning with it, 
 he beheld the carpenter, a large, bewhiskered, and
 
 BARBARISM 161 
 
 dyspeptic-looking Scotchman, with his hand on 
 Mr. Breen's collar. He had dropped the bundle 
 of oakum, but still held the calking mallet, 
 while the cook still held the knife. Dick set 
 down the pan. 
 
 " Ye thunderin' loon," roared the big carpenter 
 in the ear of the slimly built ensign, " an' why do 
 ye no go aft to the poop wi' yer tools an' material. 
 Wha put ye here, to scar up a good deck an' mak 
 work for a mon wi' plenty to do ? " He gave him 
 a shake, then flung him against the rail. Dick 
 waited for orders. 
 
 " If you please, sir," said the ensign, and only 
 Dick could detect the quiver of rage in the humble 
 accents, "I was told by the captain to saw wood 
 for this gentleman, and he told me to saw it 
 here." 
 
 " He did. An' say," he said to the cook ; " d'ye 
 ken na mair o' the value o' good plankin' than to 
 sanction this ? " 
 
 Out came the cook, his eyes gleaming and carv 
 ing knife gripped tight. 
 
 " Don't you come 'round inte'ferin' 'tween me 
 an' my boy," he said. "He's my boy, an' he's 
 gwine to saw my wood whenebber I want him. 
 You hear ? An' he's gwine to saw it jess where I 
 tell him, too ; an' if you don't lak it, you go aft 
 an' talk to de skipper." 
 
 " I'll talk to the skipper, nae doot," answered the
 
 162 MASTERS OF MEN 
 
 carpenter, steadily, as he eyed the flourished knife ; 
 " but the question now is, are ye threatenin' me 
 wi' that weepon ? If ye are, I'll get along with 
 out him. Put it doon." He advanced toward the 
 cook. 
 
 " Keep away dere, sah," stormed the negro, as 
 he raised the knife high over his head. "I's a 
 peaceable man till I's 'roused, but I's been a bad 
 man in my time. You hear 
 
 The calking mallet struck him squarely over 
 the eyes. It was a cylinder of lignum vita}, about 
 fifteen inches in length and three in diameter, 
 banded at the ends with iron, and fitted with a 
 small foot-long handle at its middle. Any one 
 who has seen a ship-carpenter or calker at work 
 can understand the development and mobility of 
 the wrist-muscles brought into play, and with 
 these muscles alone the carpenter had sped the 
 mallet from his shoulder with the speed and accu 
 racy of an Indian's tomahawk. The cook went 
 down, but arose in a moment, smiling, or, rather, 
 grinning, and looked wildly about for his knife, 
 which had dropped from his hand. 
 
 "Fair exchange is nae rubbery," said the car 
 penter, coolly, as he twirled the knife by its han 
 dle, " an' I thout I'd trade weepons wi' ye ; but if 
 ye'd have mine ye maun go over the seed for it. 
 It war no constructed for armour-piercin', an' 
 caroomed on yer superstructure. Get ye into yer
 
 BARBARISM 163 
 
 galley, ye swine, or I'll mak shark bait o' ye. 
 An' I'll e'en report ye to the skipper an' keep yer 
 toothpick for scrappers." He stepped forward, 
 but the cook retreated into the galley. 
 
 " What's up here ? " asked the second mate, ap 
 pearing on the scene. 
 
 " What's up, sir," answered Chips, as he turned. 
 " I war expostulatin' wi' this Senegambian about 
 the condeetion o' the deck gin his wood-sawyer 
 gets through, an' he come oot wi' his assegai ; an' 
 I've lost my best corkin' mallet " 
 
 " Take this stuff forrard," said the officer to 
 Breen, the sleep of his late watch below still in 
 his eyes. " Don't ye know any more'n to saw 
 hard wood over a bare deck?" his voice was 
 rising " Hey ? Don't ye know any more'n 
 that ? " he shouted, now thoroughly awake. " Get 
 that dunnage on the fore hatch, spread it out, an' 
 pile this wood on it 'fore ye do any more." He 
 aimed a kick at Breen, who dodged it by an inch 
 and went forward with his saw and sawhorse. 
 
 "What are you doin' here?" demanded Mr. 
 Jones of Dick. 
 
 "After the dinner, sir," he answered, picking 
 up the pan of pork. 
 
 " Did he have any hand in this, Chips ? " 
 
 " No, sir. Merely a non-combatant spectator." 
 
 " Get out o' this," he said, and then, to the car 
 penter : " Chips, you're to keep yer hands off other
 
 164 MASTERS OF MEN 
 
 people, an' yer nose out their business. I'll see to 
 the men, an' I'll do the fightin'. That's what I'm 
 here for. Give the doctor his knife." 
 
 " Vara good, Mr. Jones ; but I'll no stand quiet 
 'fore a knife, I'll assure ye o' that." And the 
 knife whirled through the door and rattled on the 
 brick flooring of the galley. 
 
 " All right ; an', Doctor, you keep off the deck, 
 or ye'll have me foul o' you." 
 
 " Yes, sah," answered the cook from within. 
 
 The dignified peacemaker went aft, Chips en 
 tered his shop with his bundle of oakum, and the 
 incident ended ; but it was apparent to all who 
 had seen, that henceforward there would be little 
 of human brotherhood between the carpenter and 
 the cook.
 
 CHAPTER XXVIII 
 
 ""T~TTHAT kep' ye so long, younker?" asked 
 T T Sawyer, as Dick entered with the pork. 
 His eight watchmates were seated, on boxes, 
 buckets, and chests, around the dishpan, picking 
 at what they had taken out. He placed the pork 
 on the floor, seated himself on a bucket, and 
 helped himself to the soup. 
 
 " Scrap," he answered. " Chips floored the cook 
 with a calking mallet." 
 
 " What for ? " 
 
 " Cook came out with his knife. What kind of 
 provender is this, anyhow ? Regular thing ? " 
 
 " Government allowance ; but the government 
 don't prescribe that it must be good." 
 
 " I heave the whole bloody lot out der door," 
 said a red-faced German, arising with his pan. 
 
 " Steady as you go, there, Dutch," said Sawyer. 
 " Ye'll only have to lick it up in yer watch below. 
 Sit down." 
 
 Dutch subsided, and Dick spooned off a portion 
 of the fat pork. It quivered like jelly and filled 
 the forecastle with its odour. Nor did its appear 
 ance speak well for it ; it was pale, greasy yellow, 
 speckled with green. 
 
 165
 
 166 MASTERS OF MEN 
 
 " I don't know," said Dick, sitting back against 
 the bunk behind him. " I can eat this when I'm 
 hungry enough, but not yet." 
 
 " Plenty o' hardbread in the barge," said Saw 
 yer ; " we'll get our pound a day when it's gone ; 
 so go easy." 
 
 Dick munched hardbread, which happened 
 to be fresh, and the example being set, one by 
 one the men dumped their portions of peas into 
 the dishpan and followed suit. They were a cos 
 mopolitan crowd, representative of most maritime 
 nations, and had already learned each other's 
 names. Dick had given them his alias. Besides 
 Sawyer, of Hoboken, there were the excitable 
 German, "Wagner, a fair-haired Swede named 
 Swanson, a thin-faced, swarthy Spaniard who 
 gave the name of Pedro, and an equally thin- 
 faced and swarthy Frenchman named Frank, 
 Winskel, a Russian, Peter, a "West Indian negro, 
 and Smith, a little, stoop-shouldered cockney with 
 a villainous accent. 
 
 "We'll get this," said Sawyer, "until we tell 
 the skipper who done up the mate last night." 
 
 " "Who it was ? " asked Wagner. 
 
 " Don't know, an' don't care ; wouldn't tell if I 
 did know. But it was none o' this watch, you bet. 
 Billson's the only man I'd suspect, and he was 
 dopy all night." Sawyer looked around rather 
 contemptuously.
 
 BARBARISM 167 
 
 " Well, Hi'll be jiggered if Hi can stand much 
 o' this sort o' chuck," whined Smith. " "Wot's a 
 man goin' to do, hany 'ow ? Gimme bellyful, Hi 
 say, an' then Hi can work wi' the next man ; but 
 wot can any bloomin' bloke do hif 'alf starved. 
 Hi'm one for goin' haft an' tellin' the hold man 
 wot he his." 
 
 "Oh, shut up! Te'd give a shipmate away 
 quick enough, but ye wouldn't face anybody aft." 
 
 " "Wouldn't Hi ? Just make up the crowd to 
 back me, Hi say, an' Hi'll do the talkin'," said 
 Smith, arising bravely to his feet ; " an' hif ye can't 
 foller me, Hi might 'ave somethin' to say habout 
 who done hit." He looked steadily at Sawyer, 
 and the long Jerseyite also stood erect. He col 
 lared the cockney, shook him a little, smote him 
 with the open hand on one ear, changed hands 
 and smote the other, then sat him down hard on 
 a chest. 
 
 "If I'd gone far enough to tackle the mate," 
 he said sternly, " I'd ha' gone farther, an' been in 
 irons 'fore this. Now, sing small. You know that 
 it takes a better lot o' men than this crowd to 
 go aft with any kind o' bluff. You know what 
 it means, in a Yankee ship, to go aft with a kick 
 about grub or anything else. Ye'll get nothin' 
 but abuse, and if ye stick out, ye'll get buckshot." 
 
 The cockney was rather dazed, and remained 
 quiet until he recovered.
 
 168 MASTERS OF MEN 
 
 " I dont know 'bout dot," said Wagner, puffing 
 vigorously to give draught to his pipe. " In my 
 last ship we go aft und we kick about der duff dot 
 had no plooms by it, an' der skipper, he coom down, 
 an' he look, an' he give hell to der steward, an' 
 we get plooms." 
 
 " What country ship was it ? " demanded Sawyer. 
 
 " English Dunlock Castle" 
 
 " The difference 'tween heaven and hell. This 
 is a Yankee ship with a Yankee skipper an' mates. 
 I'm a Yankee at least, an American an' kinder 
 proud o' my country ; but I'm not proud o' some 
 o' the products, an' I'd rather be in hell without 
 claws than aboard of a Yankee ship wi' the mates 
 down on me. Don't talk to me 'bout goin' aft 'less 
 yer ready to murder the after-guard an' take the 
 ship. What then ? Can ye navigate ? Is there a 
 man here that can even cook the grub ? Not one. 
 S'pose ye could. . Only a matter o' time when 
 ye'd hang. They always get ye. But ye couldn't 
 get that far. Think of it : here's the skipper with 
 his shotgun and pistols, the big second mate 
 mate now steward with a gun in his fist, Chips 
 with his broad-axe, an' the cook with a knife. An' 
 the cook's a whole team by himself. Made a 
 knife-play on me 'cause I kicked. What did Chips 
 do, Billson?" 
 
 "Made a row over the woodpile scarring the 
 deck, and ill-treated the cook's assistant."
 
 BARBARISM 169 
 
 " There ye are. Unless ye're ready to kill that 
 cook, kill the second mate any one here like 
 to try that? kill Chips, an' kill the skipper, ye 
 might as well shut up 'bout goin' aft with a kick." 
 
 " I know dat cook," said Peter, the West Indian. 
 " He don' 'member me, but I 'member him. I 
 see um in Havana ; take um three policemens put 
 him in jail." 
 
 " Ver' bad temper, zat cook," said Frank ; " zis 
 morning I get ze coffee, and he say I get out or 
 he scald me. "What for ? I do not know." 
 
 " Tell him to soak his head." 
 
 " No. What for ? I take ze coffee I get out. 
 It is not pleasawnt to be scald." 
 
 " I was in a bark out o' Baltimore," said Swan- 
 son, the Swede, " and der cook was a nigger like 
 dis, and he give us all der goot t'ings he steal 
 from der steward ; and den he take care and shake 
 out der weevils from der bread 'fore he soak, and 
 he boil der beef in fresh water, and he steal dat 
 water " 
 
 " And what'd ye do for the cook ? " demanded 
 Sawyer, with a grin. 
 
 " Oh, we bring his coal from der fore peak, and 
 shop his wood, and wash his shirts " 
 
 " Like a slave," interrupted the disgusted Dick. 
 " D'ye call yourself a man ? Say, Sawyer, admit 
 ting that the after-guard runs the watch on deck, 
 does the cook run the watch below in these ships ?
 
 170 MASTERS OF MEN 
 
 Does the cook do as he likes? Hasn't he a 
 boss ? " 
 
 " Steward." 
 
 "And is the steward responsible for the way 
 our grub is served responsible for this ? " He 
 pointed to the pan of pea soup. 
 
 " Partly. But I reckon our steward don't dic 
 tate much to this cook. Notice him? He ain't 
 bigger'n a pint o' cider." 
 
 " Ya-as, it was der steward," said "Wagner. 
 " He tell der doctor to give us our whack. Der 
 old man didn't say notting." 
 
 "Well, Hi'll tell yer wot Hi'm goin' to do," 
 said the rejuvenated Smith. " Hi'm goin' to 
 bryke his bloomin' fyce in first time Hi catch 'im 
 forrard o' the galley door." 
 
 "I yump on him mineself," added Swanson, 
 approvingly. 
 
 " And I'll * yump ' on you if you do," said Saw 
 yer. " Steward isn't to blame." 
 
 " Yes, it wass ze steward," said the Frenchman. 
 " He weigh out ze beef and ze pork ; he give ze 
 cook his ordaire. We mus' punish ze steward for 
 zis." 
 
 Pedro, the Spaniard, and Winskel, the Russian, 
 understood English better than they spoke it ; 
 and their approving nods and gestures added to 
 the steward's indictment. But before they had 
 formulated a plan of punishment one bell (half-
 
 BARBARISM 171 
 
 past twelve) sounded on deck, and they went out 
 to relieve the other watch, Dick consistently car 
 rying back to the galley the dinner he had brought 
 the pork dumped into the pea soup and the full 
 pan fitted into the empty. 
 
 As he passed the carpenter shop, Chips, who 
 stood in the door with a sober countenance, halted 
 him by a gesture. 
 
 " Ye war a weetness, young man, war ye not," 
 he said, " o' that cook's ungovernable temper and 
 unwarranted assault upon me ? Leesten ; hark ye 
 to that. Heard ye ever the like of it ? He's been 
 a-grindin' an' a-sharpenin' of his knife gone fifteen 
 meenutes ; an' I vara much fear that it's for me." 
 Chips's bilious face took on a serio-comic expres 
 sion of terror which brought a grin to Dick's ; 
 but he listened, and heard the " wheese, wheech " 
 of a knife grating on a butcher's steel in the 
 galley. 
 
 " He's after you, Chips," he said, as he passed 
 on. "You're done for." The knife-grinding 
 ceased as he stopped at the galley door, and the 
 cook appeared with empty hands. 
 
 "You take dat stuff back," he snarled, as he 
 looked at the contents of the pan. "What you 
 t'ink I want wi' dat? Dump it overboa'd." 
 
 " Dump it yourself," answered Dick, forgetting 
 the ensign's injunction to avoid friction in his 
 resentment of the cook's manner and tone.
 
 172 MASTERS OF MEN 
 
 " Wha' you say ? Hey ? You talk lak dat to 
 me?" 
 
 Dick still held the dishpans in his hands ; and 
 as the villainous black face leaned toward him 
 the teeth bared, the eyes glittering, and the angry 
 contusion in the middle of the forehead rising high 
 out of a network of wrinkles and swollen veins 
 he obeyed an impulse born of anger, racial hatred, 
 and disgust. He lifted the pans, tilted them, and 
 pushed them bodily toward the evil face before him. 
 They landed squarely, and the cook was deluged 
 with the mess ; it ran down his face and neck and 
 flooded the floqr, and as he blindly struck the pans 
 from his head, he slipped and fell. By this time 
 Dick was far away around the forward corner 
 of the house with his watchmates, receiving in 
 structions from Mr. Jones. It was an exploit that 
 brought a glance of disapproval from the ensign 
 as Dick sped past his woodpile, but joy inexpressi 
 ble to the dyspeptic carpenter, who had witnessed 
 from his door. As for Dick, he thought only of 
 consequences which was natural.
 
 CHAPTER XXIX 
 
 DICK worked in the rigging all that after 
 noon, and, though within shouting distance 
 of Mr. Jones, he was surprised at the absence of 
 any comment or criticism from the officer, who, 
 throughout the whole watch, spoke harshly to the 
 others. Perhaps this was because he was doing 
 his work properly perhaps because Mr. Jones 
 and the carpenter ate together at the second 
 cabin table, and at dinner the latter had told how 
 Dick had ducked the cook. He was strongly 
 confirmed in the latter guess when, from his 
 perch aloft, he saw the officer pause at the galley 
 door, where the cook, half in and half out, de 
 claimed to him with violent gesticulation. Dick 
 could not hear, but when the angry black face, 
 shiny with soap, was turned up to him and a 
 grimy black forefinger pointed at him, he had 
 no doubt that he was the subject, of conversation. 
 Mr. Jones merely pushed the cook into the galley 
 and went away. 
 
 The storm had passed, and, though the wind 
 was still out of the west, there was no chance 
 for the sea to rise very high so close to land, and 
 173
 
 174 MASTERS OF MEN 
 
 the ship, with all sail set, was riding smoothly 
 out to sea. It was famous weather for work. At 
 three bells the watch below was turned out 
 Ensign Breen going wearily back to his wood 
 pile and by supper time the two anchors were 
 stowed inboard, the cables sent below, with fen 
 ders, mooring chains, gangway davits and grating, 
 and nearly all the chafing gear was aloft and in 
 place. Through it all, Dick, working at seaman ly 
 tasks, looked down on his officer sawing wood. 
 At first he felt an ungenerous pleasure, due to 
 his bitterness of heart; then he wondered at the 
 ensign's courage in choosing so hard a part, and 
 at his fortitude in playing it, and at last he felt 
 an honest, manly indignation, based upon his 
 training and respect for an officer of the navy. 
 As he came down to his supper at three bells 
 in the first dog-watch, the haggard look in the 
 ensign's face and his slow, deliberate movements 
 in piling the wood he had sawed moved Dick to 
 an explosive burst. 
 
 " Say the word, sir," he said between his teeth 
 as he halted before him, "and I'll brain them 
 both with a handspike. I can do it one at a 
 time." 
 
 " You cannot," answered Breen, wearily. " You 
 might disable one, but the other would shoot 
 you. And if you did succeed what then ? 
 Anarchy among the men. That could be quelled
 
 BARBARISM 175 
 
 with powder and shot ; but the final result you 
 would hang, and I could not save you. Leave it 
 to me. I am working it out, and they do not 
 hang government officers." 
 
 Dick went to supper. There was some villainous 
 tea, sweetened with molasses, which he drank, and 
 a lump of cold, fat, salt pork which neither he nor 
 the rest could touch. The whole watch vented 
 their feelings in profanity, and vowed dire ven 
 geance on the after-guard ; but little of it found 
 form or expression except in Smith's avowed de 
 termination to " bryke the bloomin' steward's 
 fyce," and they supped as they had dined on 
 hardtack. 
 
 Work was done for the day when they stepped 
 out at four bells. The other watch had cleared 
 up the deck, and near the fore hatch Breen's wood 
 pile showed white and symmetrical in the gather 
 ing gloom of the chilly evening. Dick sat upon 
 it, while his watchmates paced the deck under 
 the lee of the weather rail. In a short time the 
 ensign came out munching a biscuit. As he 
 seated himself by Dick's side there came a sound 
 from the galley, " Wheese, wheech." 
 
 " Hear that, Halpin Billson, I mean ? " he 
 said wearily. " It's been going all the afternoon. 
 It's for the carpenter, if it isn't for you. What 
 made you douse him with the soup ? You've 
 made an enemy."
 
 176 MASTERS OF MEN 
 
 "And a friend, too, Mr. Breen. Chips liked 
 it, and I'm sure he squared me with the second 
 mate." 
 
 " Please drop the mister and the sir. Try to 
 remember. I'm a wood-sawyer, as Chips called 
 me, and assistant to a darkey cook. What do 
 you think of my day's work ? " Mr. Breen looked 
 proudly as proudly as an utterly exhausted man 
 may at his handiwork, and lay down upon it. 
 "To-morrow I must split it," he continued. 
 " Abraham Lincoln was a rail-splitter in his time. 
 "Wonder if he ever got so tired as I am ? " 
 
 " But why is it necessary ? " asked Dick. " You 
 are certainly the best man aboard able to com 
 mand the ship, but not used to manual labour. 
 Can't we drill it into the skipper's head ? " 
 
 " Go aft and try if you like ; only, don't say 
 I sent you. If I could get into that cabin and 
 find a loaded revolver I think I could convince 
 him, but I see no other way. When I'm able 
 to move without pain I shall try it. The skipper 
 stands watch now, and the first mate's confined 
 to his room ; so, with the steward asleep, the 
 second mate asleep, and the skipper on deck, 
 there might be a chance to sneak in through the 
 forward companion and get his pistols." 
 
 " Suppose I try it to-night ? " 
 
 "Not to-night. It will need two of us, and 
 to-night I could not find energy to pull a trigger.
 
 BAKBAKISM 177 
 
 Then, too, you must not take the initiative. You 
 are a sailor, and most maritime law is devised 
 for your punishment. I am an officer, and to a 
 large extent exempt. I have the government 
 behind me." 
 
 " What kind of a crowd have you in your watch," 
 asked Dick, after a moment's thought. 
 
 "No two alike all different: Dutch, Swede, 
 Dago, Finn, and several unclassified. I'm the 
 only American." 
 
 " My side is the same, excepting Sawyer. He's 
 a Jerseyman." 
 
 " You're not thinking of organizing a mutiny, 
 are you ? That won't do. Think of the sensa 
 tion and the newspaper accounts. Nineteen 
 murderous scoundrels hanged for mutiny. Let 
 me do it alone. It'll be merely a naval officer 
 taking charge of a ship and sailing her to port. 
 But who is Sawyer? The man who was called 
 up on the poop this morning ? " 
 
 " Yes. He's a good fellow and believes as you 
 do. Says it'll make things worse to kick." 
 
 "He's a man I'd like to know. You're too 
 successful with your fists, Billson, properly to 
 appreciate finesse, or to conduct a successful 
 mutiny. Go get Sawyer and introduce me. I'm 
 too tired to seek him." 
 
 Dick went among the men and returned with 
 Sawyer.
 
 178 MASTERS OF MEN 
 
 " Excuse my not rising," said the unsubdued 
 Breen. " I'm a little out of form, and the saw 
 want's sharpening." 
 
 " An' it's a d shame, sir," answered Sawyer, 
 sitting down on the hatch and speaking softly. 
 "If ye could only make the skipper believe ye, 
 it'd be all right. He wouldn't dare haze ye oh, 
 I know an officer, sir (Breen had started up); I 
 put in three years in the service ; I could tell by 
 yer walk, and yer voice, and the way ye carried 
 yerself, an' when the skipper twitted ye about 
 makin' a bluff, I knew for sure." 
 
 " "Well," said Breen, coldly, " I hope you have 
 kept your knowledge to yourself." 
 
 " No fear, sir; I've kept still, an' mean to; and 
 if I can be of any service to ye aboard this hell- 
 driver ye can call on me." 
 
 " Surely," interrupted Dick, " the three of us 
 could take charge 
 
 " No, no," said the ensign, impatiently. " Saw 
 yer, how about this grub ? Shall we get such stuff 
 right along?" 
 
 " Until we find out and give up the man 
 that crippled the mate. We're on government 
 whack." 
 
 " The old navy war ration, I suppose ; but I've 
 passed upon and condemned naval stores much 
 better than these." 
 
 " True enough, sir. But a good many shipown-
 
 BARBARISM 179 
 
 ers an' skippers buy up condemned navy stores. 
 They're always used up, somewhere." 
 
 " And I suppose we must find out the man who 
 assaulted the first mate before we have a change," 
 said Breen, musingly. " What will the skipper do 
 to him ? " 
 
 "Oh, he'll be ironed, of course, an' perhaps 
 thumped a little ; but he's sure to be triced up by 
 the wrists for eight or ten hours until he confesses, 
 or begs off, or weakens somehow." 
 
 " Sawyer," and Breen's voice hardened, " do you 
 know anything about the geography of the cabin 
 how the rooms are laid out ? " 
 
 " Why, yes ; they're all about alike in these 
 ships. The two mates' rooms are each side the 
 forrard passage that the companion opens into. 
 Next aft is the dinin' room, with staterooms and 
 storerooms along the sides, and next is the after 
 cabin where the old man lives. His sleepin' room's 
 in one corner, bathroom in the other. The after 
 companion stairs is between 'em." 
 
 " Where does the steward sleep ? " 
 
 " In one o' the rooms off the dinin' room." 
 
 " And the carpenter and cook ? " 
 
 " Chips has a little kennel off his shop between 
 the two forecastles. The cook has a room off his 
 galley." 
 
 " Then, to get into the after cabin at night 
 when the captain has the deck, a man will have
 
 180 MASTERS OF MEN 
 
 to enter by the forward door, pass the doors of 
 two officers, either of whom might be awake, and 
 pass the room of the steward, who also might be 
 wakeful ? " 
 
 " Yes, sir." 
 
 " Sawyer, drop the ' sir ' before you form the 
 habit. I'm trying to break off Billson, here. 
 Where would the skipper be likely to keep his 
 pistols ? " 
 
 " In his pockets until the crew get settled down ; 
 then in any good, dry place, I s'pose. It's a risky 
 thing you're thinkin' of. He'd be apt to shoot 
 you if he caught you in his cabin at night." 
 
 " Unless I shot him first. It all depends on 
 those pistols. Well, we'll see. Who is this ? " 
 
 A man had come forward on the lee side, and, 
 approaching them, now peered into their faces. 
 He was a small-sized man of quick, nervous move 
 ments, but evidently an American. 
 
 " What's wrong, Steward," asked Sawyer. 
 
 " I reckon you're the man. I'm looking for 
 the man that talked back this morning. You 
 him ? " 
 
 " Eeckon I'm him." 
 
 " Captain Bilker wants to see you in the cabin." 
 
 What for ? " 
 
 " I don't know." 
 
 "All right." Sawyer arose from the hatch. 
 " I may come forrard feet first," he said to Breen,
 
 BARBARISM 181 
 
 " an' I may go in irons, but take care o' yer- 
 selves, both o' ye." 
 
 He took the lee side in going aft, but the stew 
 ard, who had come this way, and doubtless found 
 it draughty, sought the shelter of the weather 
 rail in returning. He blundered into a group of 
 Dick's watchmates, pacing up and down in the 
 darkness, and then became invisible to the two on 
 the woodpile. But his presence in the crowd was 
 attested by his choked appeals for help, by the 
 stamping and shuffling of feet, the muttered oaths 
 and imprecations, and the thuds and smacks of 
 fists and open hands. At last, just as Dick and 
 Breen understood and resolved to interfere, he 
 shot out of the crowd, followed by a whirling 
 belay ing-pin, dashed past them across the fore 
 hatch, and with head lowered and elbows elevated 
 sped aft on the lee side. 
 
 " That's because he's a small-sized man," said 
 Dick. " They blame him for the way the cook 
 served the grub. I wonder if they would tackle 
 the cook, or the skipper." 
 
 " Hardly, I think," answered Breen, absently. 
 He remained silent a moment, then said : " He 
 didn't appear to be injured ; but what would hap 
 pen if they disabled him? Who would do his 
 work ? " 
 
 " Cook, I suppose." 
 
 "Don't think so and his own, too; if one
 
 182 MASTERS OF MEN 
 
 could do both they wouldn't carry two. If the 
 steward was put out of commission, Billson, some 
 one would take his place in the cabin. I am the 
 likeliest man." 
 
 " Want me to do it ? " asked Dick, surmising the 
 drift of Breen's thoughts. 
 
 " No, no by all means no. Only as a last 
 resort. He seems a harmless man. I was only 
 thinking and I want only the run of that 
 cabin for ten minutes." 
 
 " How about the cook ? He's apt to make some 
 kind of demonstration soon on account of the soup. 
 Suppose I put him out ; it'll be a pleasant job." 
 
 " And then you'll go in irons. No, I need you 
 intact and free. If we could get some one else to 
 do it ? " 
 
 "Chips?" 
 
 "I've no love for him. He was rather harsh 
 and unkind to-day. I wouldn't sorrow much 
 to see him ironed for killing the cook, or the cook 
 ironed for killing him. However, it won't be 
 necessary. The skipper must stand watch until 
 the mate recovers, and when the pain is out of my 
 bones I mean to sneak into his cabin. I'm in his 
 watch, you see, and it'll be easy on a dark night, 
 along toward morning, when he is busy on deck, 
 and the others are sound asleep." 
 
 Sawyer came round the corner of the house and 
 joined them.
 
 BARBARISM 183 
 
 " Going aft, third mate," he said. " The skipper 
 don't want to stand watch. But I wouldn't tell 
 him who the man was." 
 
 " Do you know," asked Breen. 
 
 " Yes ; skipper explained how he broke the 
 mate's arm. Mate turned out and clinched him in 
 the darkness, but the man broke away ; then the 
 mate struck out at his face, and the man ducked 
 and caught his wrist in both hands, then, quicker'n 
 lightnin', he turned and brought the arm, elbow 
 down, over his own shoulder, an' hove down on it. 
 It's a trick known to trained fighters, an' it's also 
 known in the navy. The man was no thief ; he 
 only wanted the mate's pistol, not knowin' that he 
 went to bed with it."
 
 CHAPTER XXX 
 
 SAWYER turned and entered the forecastle, 
 while Dick furtively glanced at the slim, 
 graceful figure of his officer. As events crowded 
 one upon another, he was being forced to a revision 
 of opinion regarding his smooth-voiced and gentle 
 manly superior this courageous and resourceful 
 man of action. He was beginning to admire him, 
 almost to like him. 
 
 " It was a foul trick," said the ensign at last ; 
 " but what could I do ? He was a large, heavy 
 man. I had suffered brutal treatment on deck, 
 and feared for my life. We were taught that trick 
 sub rosa, at Annapolis, as a resource in street riots, 
 when firing was forbidden." 
 
 "You did right," answered Dick, vehemently. 
 " I've practised it, but have never been forced to 
 use it. I will, though, if necessary ; and then, too, 
 if you'd got the gun, you'd have shot him and the 
 other two, before the thing was over. There's no 
 fair play needed aboard this ship. It isn't under 
 stood." 
 
 " I wonder what use Sawyer will make of his 
 knowledge, now that he is aft ? " 
 
 184
 
 BARBARISM 185 
 
 As though to answer this, Sawyer came out, 
 dumped his clothes-bag on the hatch, and joined 
 them. 
 
 " Don't fear that I'll give you away," he said. 
 " I've sworn I don't know anythin' about it, an' 
 that'll stand. An' I want to say that I think ye 
 took the best plan in playin' flunkey. If ye'd 
 acted yer natural self, an' shown yer knowledge o' 
 ships an' sailorizin', ye might ha' convinced the 
 skipper when it'd be too late ; for, havin' hazed 
 ye an' kicked ye around, an' knowin' that as an 
 officer o' the navy ye could make him sweat for it, 
 he'd think the safest plan for him'd be to kill ye 
 with work, somehow, or shoot ye as a mutineer, 
 an' put ye in the log under the name ye've got on 
 the articles, or have ye knocked overboard some 
 dark night." 
 
 " That's the way I reasoned," said Breen. 
 
 " Yes, an' ye reasoned right. It's well under 
 stood that a gentleman, shanghaied in a Yankee 
 ship, seldom finishes the passage ; but as a harm 
 less servant man, ye'd have a chance out o' yer 
 pure innocence. It's best as it is. Now, ye'll be 
 in my watch, an' I'll make it easy for ye ; but 
 understand, after I've gone aft wi' that bag, I'm 
 an officer, and can't talk with ye, an' I've got to 
 forget all I've said an' listened to, an' if I caught 
 ye in the cabin I'd have to put ye out. Just the 
 same good luck to ye."
 
 186 MASTERS OP MEN 
 
 He shouldered his bag and started aft, but turned 
 and rejoined them. 
 
 " And, of course, ye'll understand," he said to 
 Breen, " that my believin' in yer bein' a navy offi 
 cer won't help ye any more now than if I stayed 
 forrard. I might convince the skipper 'fore long. 
 So can you 'fore long ; but it'll be the worst thing 
 that could happen after what has happened. Un 
 derstand. You'll die somehow ; and yer death'll 
 go into the skipper's official log as accidental, and 
 one o' the mates'll witness the entry. That's evi 
 dence in court. I can swear only to my belief, 
 after yer dead, and that won't help ye. But," he 
 added, significantly, " I'll have the lower bunk in 
 Mr. Jones's room." Then he was gone. 
 
 "There will be somebody each side of that 
 passage, continually," said Breen. " The thing is 
 boiling down." 
 
 From the darkness in the weather alley came 
 the tall figure of the carpenter. He halted, lis 
 tened a moment, then spying Dick and Breen at 
 the woodpile, came down to them, uttering a warn 
 ing, " Sh-h-h-h." Over the sound of the wind 
 and sea could be heard the scraping of a knife on 
 a steel. 
 
 "Hear it, lad," he said earnestly to Dick. 
 " Hear the dark beast a-grindin' his knife ? Is it 
 for me or you ? Ye soaked him weel wi' the soup, 
 an' I'm thinkin' he's a mon to be watchful of.
 
 BARBARISM 187 
 
 Losh, but it fair maks me nairvous to hear that 
 sound." 
 
 " It's for you," said Breen, guilefully. " It's for 
 you. He told me he would kill you. Oh, he isn't 
 afraid of you ! " 
 
 " Get ye oot o' this, ye time-sairvin' flunkey," 
 said Chips, angrily raising his open hand; and 
 Breen moved quickly with a billet of wood in 
 his grasp. 
 
 " He says," persisted Breen, from a safe distance, 
 " that he won't allow you or any one else to lay 
 hands on me again. He says you're nothing but 
 a white-washed Irishman " 
 
 " Hush, ye bag o' bad teedings," roared the exas 
 perated Chips. " An Irishman am I ? Me, a 
 MacPherson o' the hill clans ! Oot o' my sight, 
 or I'll " 
 
 He advanced toward the retreating ensign, but 
 Dick, grinning in the darkness, placed himself in 
 the way. 
 
 " Never mind that," he said. " The question is : 
 what about the cook ? He's sharpening that knife 
 for one of us perhaps both. What do you think 
 we ought to do ? " 
 
 " I canna tell," was the mournful reply. " It's 
 a mortal sin to hurt a ship's cook. He's a sacred 
 pairson. Did ye no hear the second mate call me 
 doon the day ? But I can try the effect o' moral 
 suasion. I'll e'en put an eedge on the broad-axe."
 
 188 MASTERS OF MEN 
 
 He left them, and soon from the carpenter shop 
 came to their ears the rhythmical thumping of a 
 grindstone footboard, and the steady grating of 
 cold steel pressed against its wet surface. It 
 drowned the " wheese, wheech " from the galley. 
 
 "The man is frightened," said Dick, as the 
 ensign rejoined him. 
 
 " So much the better," replied Breen, depositing 
 his billet on the pile ; " he is more likely to act. 
 Keep it up, and I'll stir up the darkey. There 
 goes eight bells four hours more for me."
 
 CHAPTER XXXI 
 
 WHEN the port watch turned out at midnight 
 they found but a gentle whisper telling of 
 the gale of the preceding night, and a cold, full 
 moon overhanging the southern horizon. By a 
 prearranged schedule among the men, it was Dick's 
 trick at the wheel from twelve until two ; and, 
 when the other watch had been dismissed, he went 
 aft with a few misgivings, but thankful that wind 
 and sea were easy. He had learned as much about 
 steering as a man-of-war's-man may which, be 
 yond the technique, is very little but had not 
 acquired the nice " sense of pressure " which ena 
 bles a trained merchant sailor to steer almost by 
 feeling alone. After repeating the course given 
 by his predecessor, and grinding the wheel over 
 and back a few times with unnecessary vigour, he 
 gradually brought the ship under command ; and, 
 as his nerves were now in good order, and his judg 
 ment of the best, he steered a course which called 
 forth no objurgations from Mr. Jones, though he 
 frequently peered into the binnacle, and as often 
 turned to look Dick squarely in the face. Then 
 he would resume his pacing back and forth on the 
 quarter-deck forward of the after house. Twice 
 
 189
 
 190 MASTERS OF MEN 
 
 before two bells had struck he stepped into the 
 companion out of sight, and when next he appeared 
 at the binnacle Dick smelled liquor on his breath. 
 This time he spoke, thickly but good-humouredly. 
 
 ""What's up 'tween you and the cook?" he 
 asked. 
 
 " Nothing, sir ; I lost my head and doused him 
 before I thought." 
 
 " What'd he do ? " 
 
 " Only made faces, sir ; but he looked like mur 
 der, and I let go." 
 
 " Ye doused him well 'cordin' to what Chips 
 says," chuckled Pig. " But look out for him ; he's 
 a bad proposition ; knifed two last voyage." 
 
 " Then you've been shipmates before, sir ? " said 
 Dick, hardly knowing what attitude to assume. 
 
 " For three years in fact, all my goin' to sea. 
 I ain't been long at it," said Pig, proudly. "I 
 licked a grown man first voyage, and I took the 
 fight out o' that nigger second voyage, an' he's 
 afraid to look sideways at me now ; and I licked 
 the second mate last passage home. That's how I 
 step into his place. That's what a skipper wants 
 in an officer. Learn all ye like to be the best 
 seaman on earth, and 'less ye can thump men, and 
 win out every time, yer no good aft." 
 
 " So I should think, sir," answered Dick, humbly ; 
 " but I don't think I'd do. I can work, but I 
 can't fight. Never could, sir."
 
 BARBARISM 191 
 
 " Well, ye want to brace up and learn to box, 
 and another thing, stick to yer skipper, and get 
 navigation. I'm halfway into it now. No good 
 pullin' ropes all yer life. "What part o' the States 
 ye come from ? " 
 
 " New York state, sir Port Jervis," said Dick, 
 remembering his geography. 
 
 " I'm a York state boy myself," said Pig. 
 "From Allville. Say, you do look mighty like 
 a jigger I went to school with Kedhead Halpin ; 
 but your hair ain't red. He shipped in the navy 
 and never was heard from up to when I lit out." 
 
 " Think he's dead, sir ? " Dick was humanly 
 anxious to hear of himself. 
 
 " Hope so. He was a mean sucker for the size 
 of him. Give away a whole raft o' fellers and 
 got 'em into trouble with the police. I wasn't in 
 it, but I was one o' the gang that done him up 
 for it. Then he got fired out o' school for stealin', 
 and skipped the town." 
 
 " Oh, a thief, sir, too," said Dick. 
 
 "Well, no, to give the devil his due, he wasn't 
 at least, he didn't take the boodle in this case, 
 but it looked that way. It came out months 
 after he skipped, little by little ; he was tryin' to 
 shield the real thief, who was a pet brother o' 
 the gal he was stuck on see ? And he got into 
 his boots in the mix. The gal got dead on to it 
 somehow nobody ever knew what happened
 
 192 MASTERS OF MEN 
 
 and made her brother own up. Then his dad 
 took 'em both out o' school " 
 
 " Did Mabel do that ? " burst in Dick. 
 
 " Hey ? Say ' sir ' when ye talk to me. Mabel, 
 is it? Who said any thin' 'bout Mabel? Hey? 
 That's the gal's name right enough, but I'd never 
 ha' 'membered it, without hearin' it. Mabel, hey ? 
 I'm dead on to you, Dick Halpin, and I'll make 
 you crawl 'fore I'm done wi' ye. What game 
 ye up to, anyhow ? Hey ? " 
 
 " No game, sir," answered the flustered Dick. 
 " I'm only listening to what you say about other 
 people. I don't know them. Ho\v could I ? " 
 
 " How could ye ? D'ye mean to say yer not 
 Red Halpin ? How'd ye know that gal's name ? " 
 
 " You spoke the name, sir," said Dick, gather 
 ing his wits, " and, not knowing her other name, 
 or anything about her, I repeated it. I was in 
 terested. Most girls wouldn't have done that." 
 
 "I b'lieve yer lyin'. How could I speak her 
 name when I'd forgotten it ? Hey ? " 
 
 " You must have remembered sub-consciously, 
 sir. I've read about such things. Sometimes 
 we can't remember things when we try, but they 
 come to us, and then we forget again. You've 
 noticed that, sir. I'm not your man, Mr. Jones. 
 My name is Billson, and I never heard of these 
 people before." 
 
 " Well, it's mighty queer, that's what I say ;
 
 BARBARISM 193 
 
 and if I find out yer lyin' to me, I'll make it so 
 hot for ye that ye'll be glad to git overboard to 
 cool off." 
 
 He moved down toward the lee-rail and met the 
 captain stepping out of the after companion. 
 
 " Now, look here, Mr. Jones," said the latter, 
 sternly, " I want you to understand one thing 
 'fore you're a minute older. I've listened to this 
 pow-wow, and let it go on, wonderin' when you'd 
 stop. If you don't know any more than to talk 
 to the man at the wheel, you'd better go 'fore the 
 mast again till you do know somethin'. You hear 
 me? Don't let me speak to you again on this 
 subject." 
 
 " All right, sir," answered the officer, sulkily, 
 and the captain stepped up to windward and 
 looked aloft. Then he looked at the compass. 
 Dick had the ship straight on her course, though 
 if the captain had looked five seconds earlier or 
 five seconds later, he would have seen her off a 
 full point. Tranquillity of mind is of first impor 
 tance in good helmsmanship. 
 
 " I think, Mr. Jones," said the captain, dryly, 
 as he passed Pig on his way to the companion, 
 " that your yards will stand a little attention." 
 Then he stepped down, and Pig faced Dick. 
 
 " I get this on your account, d ye," he 
 growled. " All right. Watch out." 
 
 Then he went forward, bawling " weather main
 
 194 MASTERS OF MEN 
 
 brace," and Dick tried to adjust himself to the 
 new conditions; but during the rest of his trick 
 and the remaining two hours of the watch, which 
 he spent in solitude under the topgallant fore 
 castle, he had not succeeded.
 
 CHAPTER XXXII 
 
 AT eight bells Dick mustered aft to be counted 
 with the rest as is customary at the change 
 of night-watches and when his watchmates had 
 turned in, he again sought his hiding-place ; for 
 he could not sleep even though the others had 
 ceased to discuss a project propounded among 
 them while he was at the wheel. He had felt 
 no interest when informed of it, for he could 
 think of nothing but his changed position. 
 
 Pig's statement gave a new colouring to each 
 action of Mabel Arthur and to each of his own. 
 She knew, and had known from nearly the be 
 ginning, that he was innocent. Her attitude had 
 held nothing of pity or contempt, and her strange 
 friendliness and interest in him, which he had 
 believed arose from these two emotions, would 
 now admit of a worthier animus. Dimly to his 
 mind came the ensign's mention on board the 
 Vermont of her intercession in his behalf, of all 
 she had done for him, and he started out on 
 deck, to call him from the group at the port 
 forecastle door, and ask a repetition and verifica 
 tion ; but there came to him the memory of 
 Bessie's letter and the mention of a diamond 
 
 195
 
 196 MASTERS OF MEN 
 
 ring. He must not cross-question a man about 
 his fiancee ; so he decided to say and do nothing 
 at all. Breen may have heard of his early dis 
 grace ; but it was certainly of small importance 
 to him, and an explanation might involve brand 
 ing the ensign's future brother-in-law as a thief. 
 He realized that this point of view was at variance 
 with his usual habit of mind, and felt the better 
 for it. He was uplifted, and his love for Mabel, 
 and his reserve store of self-respect, held down 
 through the years by the belief in his bad reputa 
 tion, now arose and dominated his hatred of her 
 brother and his jealousy of Breen. 
 
 " Perhaps," he mused, " this is the way a fellow 
 must feel about such things to be a gentleman 
 worthy of her, for instance. Perhaps if I prac 
 tised feeling this way, I might stop seeing red 
 when things go wrong." 
 
 In the latter speculation he was confirmed by 
 Breen, whom he sought to tell about Pig's in 
 creased suspicion and promise of a hot atmosphere. 
 Breen, sleepy, cross, and sore in his joints, unsym- 
 pathetically ordered him to play his part to 
 submit meekly to abuse, oral and physical, in order 
 that he could be at hand when wanted, instead of 
 down below in irons. 
 
 " It'll do you good," he concluded, " to be 
 thumped around a little when you can't thump 
 back. It'll develop your self-control and, by
 
 BARBARISM 197 
 
 the way, I suppose you know that both watches 
 are going aft at breakfast time to protest against 
 the menu. Keep in the background, and let the 
 others talk. They're all brave enough for 
 talking." 
 
 Dick turned in, and, being young, lost only an 
 hour in getting to sleep. He awakened at seven 
 bells with the rest, and, as agreed upon among 
 them, ate no breakfast, the object being to pre 
 serve it intact for the official exhibition at eight 
 bells, when the other watch could join them. 
 There was much talking about past experiences 
 of the kind in which victory had come to the 
 narrators ; but when eight bells had struck, they 
 emptied their pipes and arose to their feet with 
 more or less of anxiety showing in each face. 
 Smith, true to his word, bore the pan of " cracker 
 hash " with a clean spoon resting on top, and 
 Wagner carried the coffee-pot and a tin pannikin. 
 They trooped out, waited at the main hatch until 
 the other watch had obtained their breakfast from 
 the starboard galley door, then marched aft in a 
 body, and Smith, the spokesman, told Sawyer at 
 the break of the poop that they would like to 
 see the captain. Sawyer nodded warningly, and 
 entered the forward companion. When he came 
 out he carried a double-barrelled shotgun, and 
 following him were Captain Bilker and Mr. Jones, 
 each with the same burden, and a tall, mild-eyed,
 
 198 MASTERS OF MEN 
 
 handsome man with side-whiskers, who carried 
 his right arm in a sling, and whom Dick had no 
 trouble in identifying as Mr. Thorpe, the first 
 mate. This man held a marlinespike in his left 
 hand. As they ranged up at the monkey-rail and 
 looked down on the men, the carpenter stole past 
 them and mounted the poop steps with his broad- 
 axe on his shoulder, the .cook followed with his 
 carving-knife, taking a position at the opposite 
 end of the line from the carpenter, and the steward 
 emerged from the after companion with a re 
 peating rifle. Precautionary discipline was per 
 fect. At the first sign of protest seven armed 
 men were prepared to listen, and the cook and 
 carpenter glared down on the sea slaves with no 
 irrelevant side glances at each other. 
 
 " Well, men," said Captain Bilker, as with easy 
 carelessness he rested his gun on the monkey-rail 
 with its two muzzles looking down on them, " what 
 d'ye want ? " 
 
 "Just this, sir," said Smith, stepping out of the 
 group with his pan of hash. " We hain't lookin' for 
 trouble, an' we don't want to say nothin' that'll 
 bring hon hany shootin', sir ; but we just want to 
 hask you, sir, if this is the right kind o' chuck to 
 feed men on, sir. We hain't got nothin' to say 
 'bout hit's bein' government whack, 'cause that's 
 hall we sign for ; but we don't sign for maggots, 
 sir they're not in the scale o' provisions, sir."
 
 BARBARISM 199 
 
 "!N"o," remarked the captain, dryly, "they're 
 not ; you're getting them extra good fresh 
 meat over and above yer 'lowance. Mr. Thorpe," 
 he said, turning to the first mate, "there's the 
 crew ; d'ye recognize yer man ? " 
 
 " I do," answered the officer, a peculiar shine, 
 or sparkle, in his blue eyes ; " that outlaw sneakin' 
 behind the others back there." He raised the 
 marlinespike unsteadily in his left hand, and the 
 men below separated and fell back. Then the 
 marlinespike whirled among them, and Dick Hal- 
 pin fell to the deck. 
 
 "By heaven, sir," roared Sawyer, "if this ain't 
 pure murder I never heard of it. That man 
 wasn't turned to till four o'clock that morning. 
 He was doped, an' in his bunk, till Mr. Jones 
 pulled him out." 
 
 " Shut up," thundered the captain. " Hush, or 
 I'll put ye 'fore the mast again. Sure o' yer man, 
 Mr. Thorpe ? " 
 
 " Sure of him, sir ? " said the mate, with a smile ; 
 " of course I am. Look at the size of him. Is 
 there any one else in that pack able to break my 
 arm ? And I know his face and shape. I could 
 see him well enough." 
 
 " You're wrong," vociferated Sawyer, angrily ; 
 "you're dead wrong, Mr. Thorpe. That man 
 was stupid in his bunk all through that watch. 
 Mr. Jones'll bear me out. He turned him to at
 
 200 MASTERS OF MEN 
 
 eight bells, too dopy to know his name. Hold on, 
 sir, don't point that thing my way ! " Mr. Thorpe 
 had drawn and was nervously raising a pistol as 
 he looked at Sawyer, but the enraged third mate 
 levelled the shotgun, and the pistol came down. 
 Still holding the gun horizontal, Sawyer backed 
 toward the rail and spoke to the second mate, 
 while down on deck Breen helped Dick to his feet. 
 
 " Isn't that so, Mr. Jones ? " 
 
 It may have been the menace of the shotgun, 
 or it may have been Pig's surprise and shock at 
 the sudden felling of a man before his eyes ; for 
 he was young yet. He answered truthfully. 
 
 " Yes, he couldn't be waked up till eight bells. 
 I tried twice, and I know that. It was some 
 one else, Mr. Thorpe." 
 
 " Enough o' this," said the captain, impatiently. 
 " Take that man forrard. Mr. Sawyer, lower that 
 gun, and remember where you are. I make all 
 'lowances for mistakes o' judgment, but put 
 that gun down. Yer on my poop deck." 
 
 " All right, sir, but I couldn't keep quiet under 
 this." 
 
 "Now, men," said the captain to those below 
 him, " take that fellar forrard, and take yer grub 
 with you. I don't want to see it or smell it. 
 Ye'll get no different till ye give up the man 
 that crippled nay first mate." 
 
 "'Ow can we do that, sir?" replied Smith.
 
 BARBARISM 201 
 
 "He won't give 'isself hup, knowin' he's likely 
 to be killed. An' there's no hother way to find 
 hout. Hand we can't eat this stuff, sir." 
 
 " That'll do ! Go forrard." 
 
 " Hall right, sir, we'll go ; but can we hask you, 
 sir, hif you'll make the cook shake out the maggots 
 'fore he cooks up the 'ash ? " 
 
 It was a reasonable and a respectful request, 
 and possibly Captain Bilker was impressed by it. 
 He hesitated a moment, then turned to the 
 steward. 
 
 " From this on," he said, " serve the men from 
 the new stores ; serve 'em the allowance, and not 
 an ounce more. Now, men," he added, facing 
 them again, " I'm givin' you new grub for a while 
 one month, we'll say ; and if you don't produce 
 that murderin' thief by then, back you go to 
 what ye've been gettin' ; but if you do, it's full 
 and plenty." 
 
 " Thank ye, sir ; we'll do what we can." 
 
 They went forward, assisting Dick. He was 
 weak in the legs, somewhat dazed from shock and 
 headache, and his face was streaked with blood 
 from a furrow in his scalp where the point of the 
 spike had ploughed.
 
 CHAPTEK XXXIII 
 
 " A M I a slave, or a convict ? " he asked weakly, 
 -^- as he sat on a chest a little later. Breen 
 was bandaging the wound made by the marline- 
 spike, and they were alone in the port forecastle, 
 Dick's watch being at work on deck, Breen's in 
 the other forecastle, trying to eat the breakfast. 
 " Isn't there any law for these things ? " 
 
 " Plenty of law, but little justice," answered 
 Breen, with a hard look on his face. " Thank your 
 good luck that you didn't get it between the eyes. 
 You know something now about the kind of men 
 they are, don't you ? The mate thought nothing 
 of flooring you on mere suspicion, and if he had 
 killed you, would have thought as little. Same 
 with the skipper. Very well. When we get our 
 chance we'll shoot to kill ; it's the only way. 
 Hush here's somebody." 
 
 The burly form of the second mate darkened 
 the door, and his unpleasant voice said : 
 
 " Come now, come now, goin' to soger all the 
 watch ? Come out o' that, and turn to." 
 
 "Just a minute, sir," answered Breen, with 
 assumed cheerfulness. " I'll have him ready when 
 202
 
 BAKBAKISM 203 
 
 I've knotted these ends. He's lost blood, and he's 
 weak, sir." 
 
 " What guff ha' you got about it ? " Mr. Jones 
 stepped in, and advanced upon them. " Don't gi' 
 me any o' yer slack." He struck open-handed at 
 the ensign's face with force enough to stretch him 
 out on the floor ; then he collared Dick, and held 
 him while Breen scrambled to his feet. The play 
 of emotion on Breen's disfigured face was unpleas 
 ant to see, and he looked wildly about him. Per 
 haps it was well for all three that there was not a 
 knife, club, or implement in the forecastle. He 
 looked Mr. Jones squarely in the eyes for a mo 
 ment, then looked down, and said quietly, but with 
 the same tremble of rage in his voice that had 
 marked his protest to the carpenter : 
 
 " I was only stopping the blood, sir, so that he 
 wouldn't get weaker." 
 
 " Dry up, ye farmer ! " 
 
 He marched Dick at arm's length to the door, 
 and actually kicked him through it. Dick fell in 
 a heap without, and as he painfully sat up, then 
 stood up, he saw, faint and bloodless as he was, 
 the old reddish tinge creep over the sky, the deck, 
 and the white paint work about him not so brill 
 iant as of old, but strong enough to remind him 
 of his curse of temper ; then he thought of Breen's 
 mastery of himself a moment before, and by a 
 supreme effort of will brought himself back to
 
 204 MASTERS OP MEN 
 
 sanity. The paint became white, the sky gray, 
 and the deck the dingy hue it had worn. But the 
 effort of will, in his weakened condition, cost him 
 his senses, and he fell in a faint. 
 
 When he recovered consciousness, he was in the 
 same spot on the deck, and above him stood Mr. 
 Jones with an empty bucket, while Smith was 
 perched on the rail, with a draw-bucket. 
 
 " That'll do the water," said the officer, and 
 Smith came down. " Now, then," he roared at 
 Dick, " goin' to get up and turn to, or d'ye want to 
 be tucked in yer cradle and rocked to sleep ? " 
 
 Dick staggered to his feet and managed to 
 remain erect ; but he could not speak, and things 
 looked hazy and indistinct to him, the second 
 mate's huge figure being nothing but an opaque 
 blur. Then a second blur moved into his imper 
 fect circle of vision, and he heard the captain's 
 voice. 
 
 " You blunderin' fool 1 " it said. " You all-fired 
 senseless idiot, are you tryin' to kill this man, jess 
 'cause ye know how ? Don't ye know when a 
 man's had enough, or will ye ever know any thin'. 
 I've watched ye for the last ten minutes, bullyrag- 
 gin' a man already under control, with the rest o' 
 yer watch sogerin' around doin' nothin' and every- 
 thin' shakin' aloft. 'Tend to yer knittin' now, or 
 I'll have no more o' ye." 
 
 Mr. Jones took a hurried look around and aloft,
 
 BARBARISM 205 
 
 and left them to brace the yards for a shift of 
 wind. Captain Bilker regarded Dick, who, drip 
 ping wet and shivering, with face pale as death, 
 and his bandage resting on one shoulder, was hold 
 ing to the pin-rail for support. 
 
 " "What's yer name ? " he asked. 
 
 " R-R-R-ichard Halpin R-Richard Billson, sir, 
 Richard H. Billson, sir." 
 
 "Well, Richard H. Billson, are you the man 
 that crippled my mate ? " 
 
 " N-no, sir," stuttered Dick. " I never saw him 
 before this morning. I was in my bunk when that 
 happened, sir." 
 
 " How bad are ye hurt ? " 
 
 "Scalp wound, Capt'n ; but I'm weak lean 
 hardly stand up." 
 
 " Go to yer bunk. Peel off them wet clothes, 
 and I'll send the steward forrard wi' some medi 
 cine to keep down the fever. Take it, and don't 
 turn to till ye feel like it. Yer no lazy man's clerk, 
 I can see, and I don't want any sick men 'board my 
 ship." 
 
 " Thank you, sir." 
 
 Breen, who had remained awake, assisted him 
 into his bunk, and the steward came forward with 
 hot water, bandages, and medicine, and ministered 
 unto him, with the result that he slept through 
 three watches, awaking at supper time, still weak 
 and nerveless, but clear-headed and with appetite
 
 206 MASTERS OF MEN 
 
 to enjoy his supper. It was cold boiled beef and 
 hard bread ; but not being more than a year old, 
 it was palatable. 
 
 He found Breen sitting on the fore hatch staring 
 into the blackness under the topgallant forecastle. 
 He inquired of Dick's health, then pointed under 
 the forecastle. 
 
 " See it ? " he said. " Split it all this afternoon, 
 and piled it all by myself, too. I'm proud of 
 it I really am. I like to look at it. It fasci 
 nates me. And the cook gave me a piece of pie. 
 Here's your half." He handed Dick a small wedge 
 wrapped in paper. 
 
 " No, no," protested Dick, with a laugh. " It's 
 good, of course, but I'm filled up, and anyhow, 
 I'm more accustomed to junk and hardtack than 
 you" 
 
 " Take it," commanded Breen, sternly. " Do 
 you think I've resisted the temptation to bolt the 
 whole piece for a whole hour, to weaken now? 
 Eat it. Consider it an order." 
 
 Dick ate the pie. , 
 
 " I thought for a moment, this morning," con 
 tinued Breen, "that I couldn't hold my luff 
 when that brute hit me. But I did ; we've got to 
 submit and be ready to act together." 
 
 "How did it affect you?" asked Dick. "Do 
 you ever see red when you're angry ? " 
 
 "No, do you?"
 
 BARBARISM 207 
 
 " Yery often. I did this morning, when he 
 booted me out ; but I was too far gone to do any 
 thing. I generally go crazy." 
 
 " Bad. That's when men do murder. A weak 
 ness of the vascular system I heard a lecture 
 about it once certain nerve centres fail to act, 
 and there's a rush of blood. But it's all under 
 control of the will. Just hold your temper." 
 
 "I did try this morning, and it didn't last but a 
 second or so. But I dropped." 
 
 " Keep on trying. You've got to, anyway ; and 
 it'll do you good. You're too good a man to 
 hang." 
 
 " What do you think of the skipper's action in 
 sending me below ? He can't be a whole brute." 
 
 " No man is a whole villain or a whole saint. 
 We're mixtures. It was good business to give 
 you a chance ; but he'll kick you, himself, if he 
 thinks it necessary, just as often as would your 
 friend Pig. He kicked me right off the poop ; 
 but perhaps he wouldn't waste any kicks that 
 were needed elsewhere." 
 
 "And what do you think of the cook. Is he 
 sorry for you ? " 
 
 " Not a bit he's a corruptionist. He's as ner 
 vous as Chips and ten times more of a cutthroat 
 and coward. That pie was a bribe. I'm to watch 
 the carpenter and post the cook about his inten 
 tions. Begun already. Told him Chips was sharp
 
 208 MASTERS OF MEN 
 
 ening his broad-axe and means to split his head 
 open." 
 
 " He can't .have any love for me. I'm surprised 
 that he hasn't made some kind of a break my way. 
 What do you want me to do if he comes for me 
 with that knife ? " 
 
 "Eun. Your legs are long. But I think he 
 won't bother you. He's a spiteful devil, with 
 murder all through him ; yet he's a rank coward, 
 and when I told him you'd killed a coloured man 
 in Charleston, another in New Orleans, and had 
 cleaned out a New York cake-walk he expressed 
 great curiosity, and wanted to know if you were 
 down on all his race, or merely him. Told him 
 you were not particular who you killed, as long as 
 it was a coloured man. Questionable business for 
 a naval officer to be in, but all's fair in love and 
 hellships." 
 
 Dick smiled weakly, in the darkness, remem 
 bering the similar report he had given Bessie of 
 Breen, and both were silent for an interval ; then 
 Breen spoke, slowly, as though to himself : " 'All's 
 fair in love and war,' they say ; yet there are some 
 things that are not fair which are decidedly un 
 fair." 
 
 Dick waited for more, but nothing more came. 
 Then he thought, for the first time since the drug 
 ging, of his own unworthy position that it was 
 on his account alone that this well-bred young
 
 BARBARISM 209 
 
 gentleman was in the forecastle of an outbound 
 ship, sawing wood for a negro cook. 
 
 " I know what you refer to, Mr. Breen," he said ; 
 " and, believe me, I'm sorry ; I wouldn't have had 
 it happen for the world." 
 
 Breen faced him squarely in the darkness, but 
 there was no light for Dick to note the expression 
 of his face. 
 
 " I know I was a fool," he went on, " an insolent 
 fool ; and after putting it in your power to have 
 me court-martialled, I find that you preferred 
 chasing me through sailor-town to help me." 
 
 " Oh," said Breen, with a long breath. "That's 
 what you mean ? I wasn't thinking of that. And 
 don't apologize, Halpin Billson, I mean. We're 
 getting along first-rate now, and perhaps we can 
 get to be good friends. There's much about you 
 that I like and admire. But when I followed you 
 that evening, I hated you a little bit more than I 
 ever expected to hate a fellow-man. I didn't do 
 it for you, but for Miss Arthur. And I don't 
 know but I'd do it again, if she asked me to." 
 
 It is not pleasant to hear of being hated, even 
 though the hatred is dead. Dick did not answer, 
 and the two sat silently on the hatch, staring 
 mechanically at the white sheen of the woodpile, 
 forward of the windlass, each busy with his 
 thoughts. What Breen's were, Dick could not 
 guess ; his own were tinged at first with jealous
 
 210 MASTERS OF MEN 
 
 satisfaction that he was hated because of Mabel's 
 interest in him; then he thought wholly of her 
 the splendid, womanly girl, who could so strangely 
 influence them both who had held his heart 
 through the years of absence, and who could domi 
 nate this strong man at his side ; then he thought, 
 with growing appreciation, of the rare character 
 of this man, who, sensitive and sore, hating him, 
 could yet risk life and liberty in his behalf and 
 do it cheerfully. Would he have done as much for 
 Breen ? His brain said yes, and his heart said no. 
 The comparison forced upon him another query : 
 Which was worthiest of this girl? and his head 
 alone answered : 
 
 "He is a gentleman: I throw pea soup at a 
 darkey and run." 
 
 Faintly over the washing of the sea alongside, 
 and the soughing of the wind aloft, came the 
 " wheese, wheech " of the cook sharpening his 
 knife, and Breen aroused himself with a shiver. 
 
 "Next time you douse him, drown him. Hold 
 his head in it." 
 
 Which goes to show that a gentleman, firmly 
 established, may make occasional excursions and 
 Dick understood.
 
 CHAPTER XXXIY 
 
 AT eight bells Mr. Thorpe resumed charge 
 of his watch ; and, as Sawyer had proven 
 himself a capable officer, he was transferred to 
 the port watch under Mr. Thorpe, while the 
 second mate went back to the starboard watch. 
 This promised to relieve Dick of a good share of 
 abuse from Pig, but promised additional trouble 
 for Breen, who already had earned the personal 
 dislike of the captain and carpenter, and now must 
 bear with a watch officer who disapproved of him. 
 But Dick found that the tall, mild-eyed, good- 
 looking first mate was a past master of an art in 
 which Pig was a bungling beginner. While this 
 broad-shouldered and heavy-fisted young ruffian 
 would balk at no foul word or epithet, and with 
 undoubted courage would assault the men, singly 
 or collectively, on the slightest provocation, Mr. 
 Thorpe, standing still in one spot, with his best 
 arm in a sling and only a belaying-pin in his boot 
 to emphasize his remarks, did more, in the eight 
 to twelve watch that night, to lessen Dick's self- 
 esteem, than had any other influence which had 
 come into his life. The mate's orders were cor 
 rect loudly spoken when necessary, soft as a 
 211
 
 212 MASTERS OF MEN 
 
 mother's murmur when the men were near; but 
 there was vitriol in the tone, and menace in the 
 slight dropping of his left shoulder and stiffening 
 of the arm toward the implement in his boot. Yet 
 it was not this not these physical and visible 
 manifestations of power which could be met 
 with like manifestations more or less successfully ; 
 it was the colossal egotism of the man the innate 
 and aggressive belief in himself, in his sacredness 
 and necessity to the world ; it was his supreme 
 contempt for these animals whom he was forced 
 to oversee, a contempt which seemed to find ex 
 pression in resentment that they bore the shape 
 of human beings, and dared to think, speak, and 
 suffer in a human way. He used but little pro 
 fanity, and only once had recourse to the belay- 
 ing-pin when Winskel, the Russian, unwittingly 
 passed to windward of him. For this breach of 
 nautical etiquette he felled him senseless prone 
 upon his back. Then he calmly stepped upon his 
 throat as he walked forward a few paces to order 
 Wagner to go aloft to the mizzen royal. Winskel 
 had taken the shortest road to the rigging, but 
 Wagner was better- bred, and made a detour to 
 leeward. Dick escaped individual attention that 
 watch, but went to his bunk at eight bells won 
 dering dimly if he was or was not Dick Halpin, 
 seaman gunner cock-of -the- walk in the old Ver 
 mont. He was certainly being judged by stand-
 
 BARBAKISM 213 
 
 ards unknown to him, and condemned by this 
 judgment. 
 
 At four in the morning, under the topgallant 
 forecastle, Breen, in a choking rage, informed him 
 that he had successfully run the gauntlet of the 
 sleeping first and third mates and the steward, 
 only to find the door between the forward and 
 after cabin locked from the captain's side. Then, 
 on his way out, he had been seen by the wakeful 
 steward, who arose from his berth, followed him, 
 and bore witness to Mr. Jones on the poop that 
 he had caught him stealing the officers' night 
 lunch from the cabin table. Whereupon Mr. 
 Jones had called him aft and forcefully rebuked 
 him. 
 
 " Still," said Breen, as he rubbed his sore spots, 
 " it's better that the steward thought I was after 
 the lunch. I'll try again. All I want is one gun 
 and the drop. I'm sorry now that I didn't hold 
 to my wheel. It would be easy some quiet night 
 to leave it and run down the after companion." 
 
 "I could do that," answered Dick, eagerly; 
 " but so far," he added dubiously, " the first mate 
 hasn't left the poop. Sawyer attends to every 
 thing forward." 
 
 " You would go down, search the skipper's room, 
 and secure his pistols, would you not 2 " 
 
 "Why yes." 
 
 " I would necessarily be forward, perhaps asleep.
 
 214 MASTERS OF MEN 
 
 You would not have time to finish the search and 
 take your wheel again the ship would come up 
 or fall off and you would be discovered, even 
 though you succeeded in finding the guns. You 
 would have to shoot your way forward to waken 
 me. You would have to drop the first and third 
 mate for Sawyer is conscientious, you would 
 waken the skipper with the noise, and you would 
 have to drop him, too. Though the steward 
 would be an easy problem, forward are the car 
 penter and cook, besides the watch on deck. Good 
 luck might carry you through, but how often 
 must I remind you of your status under the law 
 of your proximity to the gallows? If you 
 failed to reach me with shots enough left in the 
 pistols to finish the job and overawe the crew, you 
 would go in irons, if you were not killed ; and 
 unless I repeated the feat and succeeded where 
 you failed, I could not save you. You are a sailor 
 before the mast, and the law of your country has 
 placed a halter around your neck, only waiting 
 for action on your part to draw tight the knot 
 and hang you." 
 
 "But why how," asked the puzzled Dick; 
 "how would it be different if you tried it and 
 failed? You would go in irons, wouldn't you?" 
 
 " Yes, but I am a commissioned officer of the 
 United States navy. I could convince any con 
 sul, or commissioner, and save myself, though I
 
 BARBARISM 215 
 
 cannot convince ignorant brutes like these. But 
 it does not follow that I could save you. Both in 
 the navy and in the merchant marine a sailor is 
 denied the right of self-defence: more certainly 
 is he denied the right to take the initiative in 
 assault. No, Billson, you leave this to me. "When 
 I get the drop, do as I tell you, and you will be 
 safe." 
 
 He went below ; and until coffee time Dick 
 paced the deck apart from his watchmates, won 
 dering at this new phase of class distinction half 
 inclined to doubt Breen's premises. But his in 
 tense earnestness, and evident acquaintance with 
 maritime law, with the dominating egotism of that 
 tall man on the poop, finally decided the point for 
 him. The mate would not so dispassionately have 
 felled him unless sure of his ground : the ensign 
 would not so strongly insist on caution unless sure 
 of the law and its workings. He had been willing 
 to admit the intellectual and social superiority of 
 Breen, and was now compelled to admit his legal 
 advantage over him. Was it from fault of his 
 own ? No, he had expended every energy in his 
 being to make himself what he was to trans 
 form the weak and undersized schoolboy to a 
 trained seaman of the navy. But he was of 
 value only in the navy. It had been energy mis 
 directed ; and though it was not his fault, the 
 remedy lay in his own hands. Again he experi-
 
 216 MASTERS OF MEN 
 
 enced the fever of ambition that had fired his 
 soul when he walked out the country road to Mr. 
 Bronson's farm, and later, when resolved to quit 
 the navy. Nothing but a war with another naval 
 power would give him a chance for a commission, 
 and war was far away from the United States. 
 He must quit the sea, live on land, and learn some 
 thing not included in the tutelage of a seaman 
 apprentice. But to quit the sea he must safely 
 finish this passage; and to do so required that he 
 exercise self-control and moderation of speech 
 and manner. He must follow the good advice of 
 Breen, who knew all that he must learn to make 
 himself a gentleman, but who, probably, never 
 had thrashed an enemy in his life.
 
 CHAPTER XXXV 
 
 IN this frame of mind he went to the galley 
 door to get the coffee when, at three bells, 
 the cook's rasping voice had apprised the watch 
 that it was ready. Perhaps it was because Dick 
 was the nearest man to the galley that the cook 
 placed the coffee-pot on the brick flooring far 
 enough from the door to compel a man reach 
 ing for it to step over the sill. Perhaps it was 
 accidental. Dick entered the galley bodily, one 
 foot following the other over the sill, and as he 
 stooped for the coffee-pot he heard a snarl from 
 the cook at the stove amidships, and : " Get out o' 
 my galley, you no-'count trash. Wha' you come 
 in my galley fo'?" Then he received on his 
 breast and shoulders the contents of a half-gallon 
 pot which had rested on the stove convenient to 
 the cook's hand when he entered. It was boiling 
 hot salt water, and a little of it splashed his cheek. 
 With a furious cry of pain and rage he shrunk 
 back, then ethical distinctions flown to the winds 
 bounded across the galley after the cook, who 
 picked up his knife on the way and retreated, still 
 cursing, to the other door. Here Dick caught him ; 
 he wrenched the knife from his hands and tossed 
 
 217
 
 218 MASTERS OF MEN 
 
 it away ; then, frantic with pain, he gripped the 
 black throat and squeezed to silence the vindictive 
 voice and remembered himself. He must not 
 kill. Then came the thought that in this passion 
 he had seen no red, and again he gave rein to his 
 rage; but he simply held the inert cook by the 
 collar, and with his free fist pounded his face until 
 it lost most of its human characteristics. He was 
 interrupted by Sawyer, who caught his hand. 
 
 " What for, Billson ? " he asked. 
 
 " Scalded me," answered Dick, choking with 
 pain. " Scalded me for stepping into the galley 
 after the coffee. Feel my shirt it's hot yet." 
 
 Sawyer investigated. 
 
 " You'll be all of a blister. Let go the nigger. 
 Get some paint oil out o' the locker, and rub yer- 
 self. I'll see the old man and tell him 'bout this 
 business when he turns out." 
 
 The negro sputtered a parting threat at Dick as 
 he slunk to his stove, and Sawyer supported Dick 
 to the forecastle, for he was still weak from the 
 loss of blood he had suffered the day before. Here 
 his watchmates, who had secured the coffee, assisted 
 in removing his shirt and anointing his blistered 
 shoulders with oil. He did not replace the shirt, 
 for, though the oil relieved the smarting, still there 
 was enough of agony in the mere pressure of a 
 passing breath of air to make him wish for death 
 itself, rather than suffer contact with harsh flannel.
 
 BARBARISM 219 
 
 He sat on a chest and drank his coffee, and when 
 the others had filed out to begin washing down 
 the deck he still sat there, waiting for the captain 
 to turn out, when, in humanity's name alone, he 
 could expect relief from the medicine chest. But 
 he reckoned without Mr. Thorpe, who appeared at 
 the door just after four bells had struck. 
 
 " Your wheel ? " he asked in a quiet voice. 
 
 "Yes, sir," answered Dick, as evenly as was 
 possible. 
 
 " Come out and take it. You're too fond of this 
 forecastle. It's harder to get you out to your work 
 than to run the ship. I've given you time enough 
 to fix yourself up. Now, out o' this." 
 
 " All right, sir," said Dick, standing up and 
 reaching for his shirt. He was a pitiable object, 
 with his haggard face contracted in pain and his 
 naked, blistered shoulders shivering with cold and 
 the agony of each movement ; but there was no 
 pity in the mild, blue eyes looking at him, and 
 he knew better than to appeal. He drew the 
 shirt over his head and adjusted it, while involun 
 tary wheezing groans burst through his tightly 
 locked teeth. 
 
 " That's a little man," sneered the mate. " Now, 
 don't cry this time, and next voyage you must 
 bring your mamma to sea with you. Put on 
 your little coat and your little cap, and come 
 along."
 
 220 MASTERS OF MEN 
 
 And thus was Dick taught the standard of 
 fortitude required of the American merchant 
 sailor. He did not assimilate the lesson at once 
 he was suffering too much, but as he steered 
 his trick in bodily torment, enough of a dogged, 
 helpless fury entered his soul to prevent his 
 asking the captain for remedies. And when the 
 captain, ill-humoured before his breakfast, con 
 temptuously stared him over in response to Saw 
 yer's earnest explanation of the case, and remarked : 
 u Steerin' all right, ain't he ? Able to work ? 
 What more does he want ? " he was glad that he 
 had not asked, and was bitterly content. 
 
 He recovered as he could, while the Mary Earl 
 traversed the first long leg of the zigzag which 
 sailing craft steer going south, and, turning the 
 corner, caught the southeast trade and sailed 
 over toward the South American coast. But 
 even while still a fit subject for a hospital, he was 
 not immune from further ill-treatment from his 
 superiors. Sawyer never raised his hand, and 
 seldom his voice, in dealing with the men, and 
 found no trouble in being understood and obeyed ; 
 but each man of the crew, on an average of twice 
 a week, suffered contact with Mr. Jones's fists or 
 boots, or from the left-handed use of Mr. Thorpe's 
 belaying-pin, and listened daily to Captain Bilker's 
 profanely expressed bad opinion of them. Pig 
 kicked Dick enthusiastically at first, then confi-
 
 BARBARISM 221 
 
 dently and carelessly ; and one day, having 
 knocked him down, looked at him with an expres 
 sion on his dull face born of an idea struggling 
 into his brain. 
 
 "Great heavens," he said, "but ye can't be 
 Bedhead Halpin. That boy could fight a little 
 bit." 
 
 " No," mused Dick, when safely out of range ; 
 " I'm not. Perhaps I never shall be again." 
 
 Three times Breen reported failure to enter the 
 after-cabin before finally giving up the plan ; and 
 almost daily he reported some brutal happening 
 of the night before, or some bungling mistake on 
 Pig's part which had aroused the captain and 
 brought down his wrath. 
 
 " By all signs, Dick " he had lately begun 
 calling him thus " he'll not last long as second 
 mate. There may be a vacancy there. Sawyer'll 
 be second mate, but the skipper may want a 
 third mate." 
 
 " Perhaps not. The ship sailed without one, 
 and Sawyer only got aft because the mate was 
 laid up. But if Pig comes forward, is there any 
 reason why I shouldn't take him down a little 
 farther ? " 
 
 " None except that it would call attention to 
 your powers as a scrapper. If the skipper really 
 wanted a third mate, and we were sure of it, you 
 might win the promotion by your fists, as I under-
 
 222 MASTERS OF MEN 
 
 stand that is the usual way. But even then you 
 couldn't get into the after-cabin. No, let Pig 
 alone until I get hold of a gun, or we resolve on 
 a forlorn hope with handspikes. You're a well- 
 licked, self-contained scrapper now just the man 
 to depend upon when the time comes." 
 
 " As a last resort," said Dick thoughtfully, " I 
 suppose we might, kindly and mercifully, disable 
 the steward some night." 
 
 " I wouldn't hesitate I'm hanged if I would, 
 only, the little man never comes forward of 
 the galley door after dark. How is your friend 
 Chips coming on ? " 
 
 " Good or rather, bad. I think the tension 
 is unsettling him. He called me into his shop the 
 other day and showed me his. nice sharp broad-axe. 
 He's using his whetstone on it now, and it'll cut 
 a hair. He says the cook sharpens his knife all 
 night, and it keeps him awake." 
 
 " That's bad. I've no particular love for him ; 
 but I don't like the idea of engineering a man 
 out of his sanity ; and yet I'm a cold-blooded 
 egotist where my own sanity is concerned. I 
 sometimes fear for myself. Ever see red now ? " 
 
 "Not a bit," answered Dick. "I'm getting 
 that much good out of this."
 
 CHAPTEE XXXYI 
 
 IT was the last dog-watch, the only time in the 
 twenty-four hours when both watches were 
 at leisure, and Dick Halpin and Ensign Breen 
 dared to converse openly. 
 
 They were walking up and down near the fore 
 hatch. In the alley between the forward house 
 and the weather rail the watch on deck was 
 gathered in groups, while the watch below passed 
 in and out of their own forecastle, their voices 
 rising in disconnected murmurs over the rush of 
 the wind through the rigging and the swash of 
 the sea. The cold night of the southern winter 
 had fallen, and in the northwest a half moon 
 shone brightly, illumining between the obscura 
 tions of racing clouds every detail of the deck and 
 top-hamper, but, when hidden, throwing the whole 
 fabric into shadow blacker from the contrast. 
 Out of- the darkness at such a moment came the tall 
 figure of the carpenter, who peered into their faces. 
 
 " Hist, lad," he said cautiously to Dick. " Come 
 awa'. Come wi' me a bit." 
 
 He led him over to the rail, and lowering his 
 mouth to his ear whispered : " To-night's the 
 night." 
 
 223
 
 224 MASTERS OF MEN 
 
 "To-night," repeated Dick. "The night for 
 what?" 
 
 " To-night's the night," said Chips, impressively. 
 " It's been a-tellin' me all the day. To-night, at 
 eight bells i' the last dog-watch, he'll have his knife 
 sharp enough to suit him." 
 
 " What who's been telling you ? What do 
 you mean, Chips ? " 
 
 " The voice the wee bit voice in my ear, lad. 
 D'ye no hear it yersel' ? Hear it noo ? ' Eight bells 
 i' the last dog-watch.' He's at it noo. Hear him 
 a-grindin' and a-scrapin' wi' his butcher's steel. 
 And he's gettin' nought but a wire eedge 
 nought but a wire eedge. And he don't know, 
 the loon ; he don't know." 
 
 The carpenter chuckled ; and Dick listened, but 
 heard no sound of knife sharpening. 
 
 " He don't know," continued Chips. " But you 
 do, lad. Saw ye ever the like of such an eedge as 
 I ha' put on the broadaxe ! And he's nought but 
 a wire eedge on his bit o' pot metal." And again 
 the carpenter chuckled joyously. Then he bolted 
 aft in the darkness, and Dick returned thought 
 fully to Breen at the hatch. 
 
 " He hears voices," he said ; " and he hears the 
 cook sharpening his knife ; but I couldn't. He's 
 half crazy. I haven't heard that knife sharpening 
 since he scalded me." 
 
 " Nor I. No . doubt you discouraged him. He
 
 BARBARISM 225 
 
 would cheerfully knife you if he dared, but as I 
 said, he is a poltroon from his wool down. And 
 Chips is safe enough if he only knew it." 
 
 " Chips must have been a little touched before 
 it began. Otherwise, why don't I hear voices ? 
 We're in the same boat." 
 
 "Difference of age, temperament, and brand 
 of lunacy. You were a little touched, too, and 
 I' m catching it. "What cures one man kills another. 
 There goes eight bells." 
 
 The tinkle of the bell sounded at the wheel, 
 and Breen stepped toward the large bell at the 
 foremast to repeat the strokes. Before he could do 
 so, a hoarse, blood-freezing shriek rang out from 
 the lee galley door, and, amid startled exclama 
 tions of jostled men, the carpenter's voice followed 
 with : " Help ! Help ! Murder ! " Then he sprang 
 around the corner of the house and mounted the 
 fore hatch. 
 
 " Shut up that noise forrard, there," shouted 
 Mr. Jones from the poop. " Strike eight bells. 
 What's the matter?" 
 
 Breen struck the bell, and the watch below, 
 already out of the forecastle, followed the car 
 penter, while the others from the weather alley 
 trooped forward. The moon, suddenly appearing 
 from behind a cloud, illumined their wondering 
 faces and the distorted features of the carpenter 
 on the hatch. He stood with arms raised over 
 Q
 
 226 MASTERS OF MEN 
 
 his head, eyes blazing, and lips drawn tightly over 
 his teeth, while incoherent growls came from his 
 throat. 
 
 " Hold him ! " he screamed at last. " Hold the 
 black cutthroat. Take awa' the knife the knife 
 the knife. It has a wire eedge." 
 
 " It's all right, Chips," called Dick, advancing 
 toward him. " The cook isn't there." 
 
 The carpenter turned, glared at him, and shrank 
 away from him. 
 
 " Back, ye murderin' de'il," he roared. " Back 
 wi' ye. Ha' ye no done enough ? " 
 
 He bounded down to leeward, turned sharply, 
 and rushed through the group of men, scattering 
 them right and left. Aft he went, yelling cease 
 lessly, meeting Mr. Jones at the mainmast and 
 upsetting him. He mounted the poop steps in 
 two bounds, sped along the alley, and the crew, 
 crowding aft, saw him poised for an instant on 
 the taffrail. Then, with a long, mournful wail 
 echoing from his lips, he disappeared from sight 
 just as the moon hid behind a cloud. 
 
 " Man overboard ! " sang out the helmsman. 
 " Man overboard ! " 
 
 " Put yer wheel down," roared Mr. Jones 
 from amidships. " All hands forrard there. 
 Stand by braces fore and aft. Clear away that 
 lee quarter boat. Hard down yer wheel. Hard 
 down."
 
 BARBARISM 227 
 
 " Hard down, sir," answered the man at the 
 wheel. " Hard down it is." 
 
 Men scattered to stations for tacking ship, and 
 Mr. Jones hurried aft, while the ship came slowly 
 up to the wind. Dick was one of the jib-sheet 
 men, and he mounted the forecastle deck, where, 
 as going about on the other tack was obviously 
 unnecessary, he expected to do nothing ; but a 
 thundering voice louder than Pig's from the 
 poop changed the prospect. The captain was on 
 deck. 
 
 " Hard up that wheel quick ! " roared the 
 voice. " Clap on to them weather jib sheets for- 
 rard there. Trim over to windward. Forrard 
 all hands o' ye. Stand by weather forebraces. 
 Oh ! " and the roaring voice took on a note of 
 distress "Oh oh, you d d two-ends-an'-the- 
 bight-of-a-poor-fool, just look at my ship now ! 
 Look at her ! Let go to looward ! Haul 'round 
 them foreyards ! 'Round wi' 'em ! Box this ship 
 back 'fore the spars go ! Get forrard out o' this, 
 you infernal lunkhead ! Get out o' my sight ! " 
 
 Mr. Jones, saying nothing in reply, headed the 
 rush of men to the forebraces ; but it was too 
 late. They had not bent the heavy weather 
 canvas needed in those latitudes, and the old, 
 patched-up rags aloft could not stand the shaking 
 they were receiving. Royals went first, then top- 
 gallantsails and topsails, and before the ship,
 
 228 MASTERS OF MEN 
 
 under the influence of the backed foreyards and 
 the still intact lower foretopsail, had begun to 
 swing back, nearly every sail aloft, as well as the 
 two outer jibs, was in ribbons. Then came in the 
 order : " Swing the foreyards and trim over-head 
 sheets." Dick, at the forebraces, heard Sawyer, 
 aft near the quarter boat, say : " Then ye won't 
 get a boat over, sir ? " 
 
 " Boat over ? " yelled the captain. " Boat over 
 for a man crazy enough to jump ? Not for 
 the best man aboard. Let them gripes alone an' 
 'tend to yer work forrard." 
 
 " Aye, aye, sir." And Sawyer joined the others. 
 
 All hands remained on deck that night, send 
 ing aloft and bending canvas. It was work that 
 needed light, and lanterns were lit. One of these, 
 shining in through the galley door for a moment, 
 disclosed to the man carrying it the body of the 
 cook, stretched out face down on the galley floor, 
 with the carpenter's broadaxe buried in his head. 
 He had been struck from behind. 
 
 Later investigation disclosed the carving knife 
 in its place in the rack on the bulkhead, in com 
 pany with the steel, fork, and long spoons used in 
 cooking. It was no sharper than it ought to have 
 been.
 
 CHAPTER XXXYII 
 
 IT was Dick's wheel from six to eight next 
 morning, and when four bells had struck, he 
 went to take it, noticing, in the gathering light, 
 the body of the cook on the mizzen hatch, and 
 Mr. Jones busy with the last stitches in its canvas 
 shroud. As he steered his trick, he marvelled 
 at the unofficerlike character of the work, then 
 remembered that through the night he had not 
 once heard the voice of the second mate ; but it 
 was not until seven bells had struck that his guess 
 was confirmed. The captain came up the after 
 companion with a Bible in his hand, and stepped 
 forward to the break of the poop, while the crew, 
 at Sawyer's call, mustered aft to the mizzen hatch. 
 Dick, at the wheel, could see nothing but the tall 
 figure of the captain, and could hear little but 
 his voice. He laid the Book on the monkey-rail, 
 and began. 
 
 " Men," he said solemnly, " we're mustered here 
 to give the cook a send-off 'cordin' to rule not 
 as how I can see as it's goin' to do him any good 
 it seems to me that if prayin' could do him any 
 good, it oughter have come 'long 'fore he died. 
 Same with the carpenter, who's some miles astern 
 
 229
 
 230 MASTERS OF MEN 
 
 now. Just the same, I'll read the sarvice for both 
 of 'em, and which ever of 'em it fits the best, why, 
 I suppose, will get it. First thing, though, before 
 we get rid o' the cook, we'll fill his place." Dick 
 pricked up his ears. 
 
 " Now, you, there," continued the captain, " you 
 big-headed, bull-headed, fool-headed lobster, that 
 thinks he's a second mate, you get into that room 
 o' yours, and you get your duds out of it and into 
 the cook's room, while I'm lookin' at you. You 
 hear ? Not a word ! You're cook o' this ship from 
 now on, or you go in irons in the 'tween deck. 
 What d'ye say now ? " 
 
 The captain drew a revolver from his pocket, 
 and placed it upon the Bible. Dick heard muffled 
 words from the main deck, but nothing intelli 
 gible. Then he saw the captain replace the pistol 
 in his pocket. "That's sensible," he continued. 
 " Let's see you keep it up. Go in there, one o' 
 you, and give him a hand with his chest." 
 
 Captain Bilker began pacing the poop, and ten 
 minutes went by before he spoke again ; then he 
 advanced to the rail, opened the Book, paused 
 while he took off his hat and jammed it into his 
 coat pocket, and read a chapter chosen at random. 
 Finishing, he closed the Book, put on his hat, and 
 waved his hand to those below. 
 
 " Over with him," he said, and then stepped to 
 the rail.
 
 BARBARISM 231 
 
 One end of the canvas sack circled into view 
 over the edge of the poop, as the body shot 
 through the gangway, and Dick heard the splash. 
 The cook's funeral was over. 
 
 " Gawd," said the captain, peering over the 
 side. " Reg'lar belly-gut dive." 
 
 Whether it was this remark, the grisly incon 
 gruity of the whole proceeding, or a sort of 
 hysteria coming after his night of fatigue, with 
 an unsuspected sense of relief at the removal of 
 Pig's and the cook's menace as a prompting 
 agency, that brought it on, Dick never could de 
 termine. He began to laugh, softly but uncon- 
 strainedly ; and when Captain Bilker came aft, 
 Bible in hand, and glared reprovingly at him, he 
 still continued. 
 
 " What's the matter wi' you ? " he demanded. 
 
 " N-n-nothing, sir," answered Dick, flushing. 
 
 " Yes, there is somethin', I tell yer. Somethin' 
 up yer sleeve, damn ye," stormed the captain. 
 "And I'm dead on to you, my fo'castle lawyer. 
 You're slick, but I'm slicker. You grin in my 
 face, will yer? I'll see 'f my first mate ain't right, 
 after all. Mr. Thorpe," he bawled forward, " call 
 all hands aft again." Then he returned to the 
 break of the poop, and Dick, sober of face now, 
 with no inclination to laughter, bore the malevo 
 lent glances of the insulted autocrat, as he paced 
 back and forth while waiting for the men.
 
 232 MASTERS OF MEN 
 
 The starboard watch trooped out of the fore 
 castle from their interrupted breakfast, and joined 
 the others on their way aft. The captain looked 
 down on them. 
 
 " I've given you men a good long time to pro 
 duce the one that broke Mr. Thorpe's arm," he 
 said. " Time's up. Pass him out at once, or back 
 ye go to yer first grub." 
 
 Dick heard an indistinct voice answering, and 
 then, from the captain : 
 
 " Ye'll tell me on the poop, hey ? What's the 
 matter wi' tellin' where ye are ? Hey ? All right. 
 Come up here, then, and no games." 
 
 Smith, the cockney, arose to Dick's view on the 
 steps, and his voice became intelligible. 
 
 " Hi've talked to hall 'ands forrard, sir, hand 
 we're hall hagreed, though that's not syin' we 
 can prove hit, sir. But hall of hus think has 'ow 
 it was the man you took haft has a h officer. He 
 was quick to deny hit forrard, sir, but he was just 
 has quick to swear hit wasn't Billson, when the 
 mate thought hit was. He knowed who hit was, 
 sir; hit was 'isself, hand hall 'ands thinks so, sir." 
 
 " That'll do. Get down off the poop," said the 
 captain. " Mr. Sawyer," he called, " step up here." 
 
 Smith went down, and Sawyer soon appeared, 
 following Captain Bilker aft through the alley. 
 
 " Mr. Sawyer," said the latter, facing him, " the 
 men accuse you of bein' the man who broke into
 
 BARBARISM 233 
 
 the mate's room first night out. I've made you 
 second mate, and so far, I've no fault to find wi' 
 you ; but I want this settled. Did you ? Or was 
 it this man here ? I want the truth, now." 
 
 Sawyer looked at Dick, and there was the barest 
 suspicion of a wink in his humorous eye ; then 
 he looked gravely and respectfully into the cap 
 tain's face. 
 
 " It was me, cap'n," he answered. 
 
 " You, was it ? And why didn't you own up to 
 it?" 
 
 " Didn't want to get shot or thumped. I was 
 'fore the mast then, cap'n. You've made me an 
 officer, and I'm much obliged for the favour ; but 
 just the same it makes a mighty sight o' difference 
 if anything happens to me this v'yage. As man 
 to man I'm not afraid o' Mr. Thorpe now." 
 
 "But what were you after? What did you 
 want in his room ? " 
 
 "Haven't the slightest idea, sir; I was drunk 
 enough for any thin', but not too drunk to fight, 
 and remember what happened. He struck at me, 
 and I twisted his arm. Now, cap'n, you can put 
 me forrard again, and take Mr. Jones, or any one 
 else, aft in my place ; but, remember, if anything 
 happens to me, I'm an officer." 
 
 " Can you square yerself wi' Mr. Thorpe ? " 
 
 " Don't care a rap, cap'n, whether I can or not. 
 I'm second mate he's only first. He ran foul o'
 
 234 MASTERS OF MEN 
 
 me on deck that first night, and things are kinder 
 square as they are." 
 
 Captain Bilker walked over to the weather- 
 rail, and stared to windward, and Sawyer im 
 proved the occasion by winking solemnly and 
 warningly at the amazed Dick. Then the captain 
 returned. 
 
 "If I send you forrard I'll have to take that 
 swine back again; and I don't want him he's 
 more at home in the galley, where he put in his 
 first voyage. But if I keep you aft, how'll you 
 get on wi' the men? How'll you get on wi' the 
 mate ? " 
 
 " Easy enough, sir. The men'll be much obliged 
 to me for gettin' them full an' plenty, as you 
 promised 'em, sir. Keep me aft and they'll do as 
 I tell 'em, just as they have been doin'. Put me 
 forrard, and I'll thump the last man of 'em for 
 givin' me away. Keep me aft, and I'll take the 
 mate's orders, do my work, and know my place ; 
 but if he runs foul o' me, I'll break his left arm 
 as easy as I did his right." 
 
 Captain Bilker paced a few turns from rail to 
 rail, then said : 
 
 "All right. Settle it wi' the mate. I'll talk 
 it over with him myself. Send the watch to 
 breakfast." 
 
 Sawyer went forward, and the captain turned 
 fiercely on Dick.
 
 BARBARISM 235 
 
 " What the h 1 you laughin' at just now ? " he 
 demanded. 
 
 " At the way the cook went over, sir, and at 
 what you said," answered Dick, suddenly realizing 
 that nothing was so good as the truth. 
 
 Captain Bilker studied him from his head to his 
 feet, and with a half snort, half grunt, went down 
 to his breakfast.
 
 CHAPTER XXXYIII 
 
 BEYOND that comprehensive wink to Dick at 
 the wheel, Sawyer offered no explanation of 
 his vicarious confession, and the two friends rea 
 soned that, secure in his advantage, he had clone 
 it out of the goodness of his heart, not only to 
 relieve Dick, and possibly Breen, from suspicion, 
 but to throw the captain back upon his promise 
 and secure better food for the men. The latter 
 result was attained, for Captain Bilker, loudly pro 
 claiming himself a man of his word, ordered the 
 steward to give them "full and plenty" which 
 meant the addition to the government allowance 
 of a few of the substitutes and an additional quart 
 of water per diem. 
 
 What difference, if any, Sawyer's confession 
 made in his relations with Mr. Thorpe never be 
 came known in the forecastle. Work went on 
 without apparent friction between the two, and 
 much more smoothly as regarded the men. It 
 was as if the tragic deaths of the cook and car 
 penter had exercised a humanizing effect on Mr. 
 Thorpe; for, though his tongue was as bitter as 
 ever, he rarely raised his belaying-pin from his 
 boot. As for Pig, the full measure of his disgrace 
 
 236
 
 BARBARISM 237 
 
 i 
 
 hardly seemed to come home to him. As cook he 
 could secure for himself as good food as was served 
 in the cabin; his berth was us comfortable, and 
 his duties were easier. After a few days of 
 moroseness and surliness, he settled into an apa 
 thetic, porcine indifference, from which he aroused 
 himself only to growl curses on Dick's head when 
 he passed the galley door. Dick heard them, and 
 asked Breen's permission to silence them. 
 
 " No ! " snapped Breen ; " you're to keep out of 
 trouble. Great heavens ! " he exclaimed passion 
 ately, " what have I done to be compelled to 
 suffer like this? " He had been all day at a wash- 
 tub, and his knuckles were sore. 
 
 " But," answered Dick, gently, " why need you? 
 It is much easier for me to bear it than for you. 
 There are only two aft now for Sawyer doesn't 
 count, provided we succeed and one is crippled. 
 "Why not you and I sneak aft in my watch 
 some night, floor the mate, gag him, go down 
 and fix the skipper, and get his pistols and gun. 
 Then we'll have charge." 
 
 " Yes, we might. I've talked bravely enough 
 about it, and yet call it cowardice if you like; 
 but I don't say that I wouldn't on impulse you 
 see, some one would be killed, surely. Some of the 
 men, perhaps, who wouldn't understand. I know 
 that I should be exonerated, and yet I hesitate 
 at bloodshed. If it were in time of war I should
 
 238 MASTERS OP MEN 
 
 drive ahead. "War excuses killing, even to a man's 
 own conscience. I had really hoped, that in case 
 of a vacancy in the galley which I confess 
 now I didn't wish for I should be made cabin 
 flunkey, or something of that sort, while the 
 steward cooked for all hands. Now I am stalled 
 again." 
 
 " I've a good mind," said Dick, slowly and 
 thoughtfully, "to take this upon myself. There 
 is a difference of training, perhaps temperament, 
 between us, and I have none of your scruples. I 
 can overcome them both in three minutes one 
 after the other. Then I can arm myself in two 
 minutes, at least. Five minutes work will do it." 
 
 " And hang you." 
 
 " But why ? " asked Dick, vehemently. " I am 
 the government's hired man. My government 
 has trained me to fight. I am taken forcibly from 
 my job, and I fight as I have been taught, to get 
 back to my work. Why should my government 
 hang me ? " 
 
 "Because certain legal gentlemen would con 
 ceive it their duty to arrange it," answered Breen, 
 wearily. "We need not argue this question. If 
 you fall back upon your relation to your govern 
 ment, I fall back upon mine. As your officer, I 
 forbid you to assault any one aboard this ship 
 until I take the initiative and so direct you. I 
 also order you to report to me twenty-four hours
 
 BARBARISM 239 
 
 hence any plan you may be able to think of 
 which will give me possession of arms without 
 previous friction. I will think also. My duties 
 now are light and conducive to thought. I am 
 the skipper's laundryman. I have washed his 
 shirts to-day ; to-morrow I expect to have his 
 socks." 
 
 Dick pondered through the middle watch on the 
 ensign's new attitude, but not until he had rolled 
 into his bunk at four in the morning had he brought 
 the problem to a satisfactory solution. 
 
 "Breen's a gentleman, to begin with," he mused. 
 "As a gentleman, he regards fighting, knock 
 downs, and such things as ungentlemanly unless 
 in behalf of others, or for a principle removed 
 from his own private interests. I wish Pig had 
 stayed home, so that I could have settled things 
 before getting these notions. And yet, Breen 
 isn't always this way. He feels like murder, 
 sometimes. Well not so often as I do ; he's on 
 that side of the fence and I'm on the other. 
 He's a gentleman, and I'm not. I wonder if I 
 can be for her I wonder if I can forgive 
 
 Pig-" 
 
 Then he went to sleep, to waken at seven bells 
 at peace with himself and with Pig serenely 
 confident in his sleep-born loftiness of purpose. 
 As was customary with him, fresh from the navy, 
 he was first on his feet ; and he started toward the
 
 240 MASTERS OF MEN 
 
 galley to get the breakfast with more of good 
 humour in his face than had shown there lately ; 
 but, in half a minute from the time that he stepped 
 through the forecastle door, his new-found phi 
 losophy was shocked out of him. First he heard 
 his name called, and observed Breen, his hands 
 full of brass-rags, running down the poop steps. 
 The watch was scattered about, some swabbing 
 paintwork, others, like Breen, scouring brass. 
 Each face was turned forward, each pair of eyes 
 focussed on a point abaft the forward house. Dick 
 hastened around the corner just as Breen called 
 again. 
 
 " Take a hand in that, Halpin." 
 
 Forward of the main hatch, flat on his back 
 and black in the face, was Sawyer. His eyes 
 were bulging, his tongue protruding, the lower 
 part of his body wriggling feebly. Kneeling on 
 his chest was the cause of it all Fig Jones. 
 His left fingers gripped Sawyer's throat, and his 
 right, doubled into a fist the size of a sledge 
 hammer, was doing the work of a hammer on 
 Sawyer's face. 
 
 " Think, do ye," said Pig between blows, " yer 
 goin' to run me 'cause ye've got my berth. I'll 
 learn ye." 
 
 It was no time to consider ethics or philosophy, 
 even though Dick had not received orders from 
 Breen. Sawyer, a good friend, was being mur-
 
 BAKBAKISM 241 
 
 dered by a giant ignorant of his strength, inno 
 cent of murderous intent, perhaps bent only 
 upon " learning " his victim. Dick's boot, impact 
 ing on Pig's jaw, stopped the tutelage. It was a 
 kick that would have broken an ordinary jaw, 
 but Pig's was not an ordinary jaw, and it held 
 together; yet he was driven off from Sawyer's 
 chest by the force of the kick, and he scrambled 
 to his feet six feet away. 
 
 " Defend yourself, Halpin," called Breen, and 
 Dick, watching Pig closely, observed, out of the 
 corner of his eye, Sawyer rising weakly to his feet, 
 with Breen and others around him. 
 
 " You you you kick me," spluttered Pig. 
 " You Halpin, hey ? I knew ye." 
 
 " Eight," said Dick, calmly ; " Redhead Halpin. 
 You got only one back, Pig Jones. There are 
 more kicks coming to you." Then he dodged the 
 bull-like rush of the giant and struck him lightly 
 in the ribs as he passed. 
 
 There is no need to describe in technical detail 
 the fight that followed the fiercest battle with 
 fists that Dick had ever engaged in. It raged and 
 whirled from the main hatch to the break of the 
 poop, forward again, then aft. Pig bellowed and 
 threatened insanely, expending his strength in 
 futile blows and rushes. Dick was merely himself 
 again not the self which had formulated plans 
 of inward discipline and forgiven Pig, but the self
 
 242 MASTERS OF MEN 
 
 which remembered the persecutions of Pig as man 
 and boy. He was a paleolithic reversion plus the 
 education of the modern seaman apprentice. Fired 
 by an ecstasy of pride and courage, he would not 
 now have exchanged his characteristics for those 
 of Breen not even for the power to win the girl 
 that he loved. He fought with his hands, and he 
 fought to win, but in his greatest intensity of feel 
 ing, he saw no red. 
 
 He noticed, as he struck and feinted, dodged and 
 whirled, that men followed them, but avoided con 
 tact, even though some held handspikes poised 
 aloft. Once he heard a clarion voice over their 
 exclamations : 
 
 "Let them alone, Mr. Thorpe. Stand back 
 there, Mr. Sawyer. He's doing well. Let 'em 
 have it out." 
 
 And he fought on, caring little for the sym 
 pathy in the voice or for the poised handspikes, 
 until, breathing hard, and dizzy with the shock of 
 interruption, he found himself held tightly by 
 Sawyer and the captain, and looking down at his 
 quivering, unconscious antagonist. 
 
 "That'll do, young man," said the captain. 
 " You've licked him fair. Don't spoil it." 
 
 "Come forrard, Billson," said Sawyer. "Get 
 yer breakfast." The captain released his arm, 
 and Sawyer led him away. 
 
 "Ye came just in time to save my wind, Bill-
 
 BARBARISM 243 
 
 son," he said, "and I'll not forget it. I didn't 
 think you could do him, and I was ready with 
 a club. Glad now, on your account, I didn't 
 use it, but sorry on mine. Why, the brute struck 
 me from behind just 'cause I'd objected, five 
 minutes before, to his spattering slops on the 
 deck." 
 
 " My name's Halpin, Mr. Sawyer," panted Dick. 
 "That fellow's an old school-time enemy, and I 
 suppressed my name and identity only to avoid 
 this. Now that it's over, it doesn't matter and 
 say, the skipper seemed to be on my side. Can't 
 we convince him about Mr. Breen ? " 
 
 "Not on your life," said Sawyer, warningly. 
 "Don't think of it. Too much has happened. 
 And I'll tell you somethin'. The skipper's sus- 
 pectin'. I heard him an' the mate only yesterday 
 talkin' about your friend Breen. You see he can't, 
 in the nature o' things, keep himself back alto 
 gether. The sailor sticks out of him, an' the skip 
 per's catchin' on. Now, that's bad for him in this 
 kind of a ship. An' only this mornin' the old man 
 asked me what I thought about him whether I 
 thought he was anythin' more than what he made 
 out, and I said that as far as I could see he was 
 the most useless, good-for-nothin' soger that ever 
 signed able seaman. But it didn't go I could 
 see that. Give him a pointer to watch out. So 
 long, now. I've talked enough wi' you."
 
 CHAPTEE XXXIX 
 
 BEFORE Dick reached the forecastle, whither 
 his watch had preceded him, he heard loud 
 and violent language from the captain, and turned 
 to look aft. Pig was sitting up on the hatch, 
 but was receiving no attention from any one. It 
 was Breen who was being rebuked. He had 
 climbed the poop steps and had begun to rub the 
 brass plate on the monkey-rail, and over him 
 stood Captain Bilker, wiping his hands and coat 
 sleeve with a handkerchief. As Breen seemed in 
 no present danger of assault, and as there was 
 not much time left for breakfast, Dick entered the 
 forecastle, concluding that Breen, in his hurry to 
 relieve Sawyer's predicament, had left the brass 
 smeared with oil and bath brick, and that Captain 
 Bilker had rubbed against it. This proved to be 
 the case. When Dick came out at eight bells, 
 Breen was stowing his box of oils and rags in 
 its place under the topgallant forecastle, and Mr. 
 Thorpe, who had come forward to set the men at 
 work for the watch, was further berating him. 
 
 " You get yotar breakfast, and at one bell you 
 turn to d'ye hear? And next time you leave 
 .any oil around loose, you'll lick it up." 
 
 244
 
 BARBABISM 245 
 
 Then he detailed the port watch to various tasks 
 about the rigging, Dick's being the squaring of 
 ratlines on the weather mizzen shrouds. 
 
 " And take a piece o' twine with you," said the 
 officer, " and go up first thing and overhaul and 
 stop the royal and to'gallant buntlines." 
 
 " Aye, aye, sir," answered Dick, and headed for 
 the " bosun's-locker." 
 
 There being no boys or ordinary seamen in the 
 crew, this lofty work was given to Dick and other 
 young and active men, while scouring brass, swab 
 bing, scrubbing, sweeping, and all unseamanly work 
 usually done by boys was given to Breen and others 
 as useless as he pretended to be. Musing on the 
 injustice of keeping Breen up in the forenoon 
 watch for an act which indirectly saved the life 
 of an officer, Dick secured the twine, with the 
 marline-spike and marline for the ratlines, and went 
 aft. On the way, he met Pig stumbling slowly 
 forward to his galley. His eyes were closed and 
 blackened ; his face was marked and bruised. He 
 was a ludicrous and pathetic picture of misery, 
 and Dick was sorry for him. Mr. Thorpe was out 
 of sight, and the captain had gone below. He 
 stopped before him. 
 
 " Pig," he said, " I didn't mean to do so much. 
 I'd made my mind up to drop all grudge and call 
 the whole thing square, but you forced me to it. 
 Will you shake hands and start fresh?" Dick
 
 246 MASTERS OF MEN 
 
 extended his hand ; but Pig, lifting his chin to see 
 easier through his swollen eyelids, tersely con 
 signed him to the lower regions, and passed on. 
 
 " All right," said Dick, and added to himself 
 as he went aft, "Well, I feel better for having 
 offered." 
 
 On the mizzen royal yard he saw a sail on the 
 southwestern horizon, squarely on the starboard 
 beam ; for the southeast trade having failed, the 
 ship was now headed away for the Cape with a 
 mild quartering wind. Looking down, he beheld 
 the captain pacing the poop and hailed : " Sail, 
 oh ! Broad on the starboard beam. Seems to be 
 steering parallel with us, sir." 
 
 "All right all right," answered the captain, 
 reaching for his binoculars ; then he looked aloft 
 and called out : " Why in thunder don't ye put it 
 to music and sing it? Don't have so much to say 
 up there." 
 
 Dick was long past being hurt by such criti 
 cism. He finished stopping the buntlines and 
 came down, noticing, as he passed the topmast- 
 head, that the seizing of the monkey, or signal- 
 gaff, lift was chafed through, and that only a 
 couple of turns held the weight of the gaff. 
 Obviously this was a matter to be reported at 
 once; but not caring to hail the deck again, he 
 descended to the eyes of the lower rigging, where 
 his work on the ratlines would begin, and called
 
 BARBARISM 247 
 
 easily to Mr. Thorpe, who was ascending the 
 poop steps : 
 
 " Seizing of the monkey-gaff lift is all gone, 
 sir," he said. " Shall I go up and fix it ? " 
 
 But Captain Bilker, not seeing the mate, and 
 supposing that Dick was again addressing him, 
 turned fiercely around and yelled angrily : 
 
 " Don't you be so d d busy up there wi' your 
 comments and your suggestions to me. I know 
 my business without your help. You 'tend to 
 your'n." 
 
 " Go on wi' those ratlines," commanded the 
 mate, consistently deferring to the captain's mood, 
 " and shut up." 
 
 " Aye, aye, sir," answered Dick, respectfully ; 
 then he went to work. 
 
 No man can with surety trace to a prompting 
 emotion the moods and whims of an autocrat ; but 
 Dick, watching the surly-faced skipper stamp 
 ing back and forth between the binnacle and 
 the rail, occasionally snarling at the man at the 
 wheel, occasionally peering through the binocu 
 lars, shrewdly guessed that the disturbance of bile 
 came of his being compelled to wash his hands 
 twice that morning and to give his coat to the 
 steward for cleaning. In this guess he was con 
 firmed when, at one bell, Breen appeared on deck. 
 
 " Mr. Thorpe," yelled the captain as he spied 
 him, "set that infernal insect to work on this
 
 248 MASTERS OF MEN 
 
 brass work an' get it done. Them stanchions 
 there. Mebbe he'll know how to scour brass work 
 properly 'fore I'm. through with him." 
 
 The brass work indicated was a set of stanchions, 
 or braces, at the ends of the poop and house rails, 
 which so far in the voyage had not been cleaned, 
 and had taken on a rusty green and blue colour. 
 Breen secured his box of rags and went to work. 
 
 " You gentleman's gentleman," sneered the irate 
 captain as he hovered over him. "You navy 
 officer, you, I'll 1'arn you somethin' ! " 
 
 Breen answered not, but scoured industriously ; 
 and Dick, above them in the rigging, speculated 
 on the chances if he should let fly his marline-spike 
 at Captain Bilker's head. 
 
 So the forenoon watch passed, the sail to star 
 board drawing closer, and the captain becoming 
 more and more irritable, until, at about five bells, 
 the other ship ran up an ensign. The captain 
 studied it through the glasses. 
 
 "Nothin' but a d d Nova Scotia rat trap," 
 he remarked ; " an' I thought it was an American 
 ship." 
 
 It was the first ship that had come within sig 
 nal distance since they had sailed, and in spite of 
 his disappointment Captain Bilker was naturally 
 anxious to communicate. He looked around the 
 deck. The whole watch was aloft with the excep 
 tion of Breen.
 
 BARBARISM 249 
 
 "Here, you," he called, "you gentleman's man. 
 Can you read letters stencilled on little flags ? " 
 
 " Yes, sir," answered Breen, standing erect with 
 the peculiar set look which had come to his face 
 lately. 
 
 " Put that gear away, an' clean yer hands an' 
 come aft here an' help me signalize that Blue- 
 noser. Bear a hand, now." 
 
 In five minutes Breen was with him. 
 
 "Run up this ensign on them signal halyards 
 there," commanded the captain, tossing the stars 
 and stripes to the top of the cabin, where he had 
 already piled the nineteen small flags of the 
 International Signal Code. Then he followed with 
 his signal books and glasses, taking a position for 
 ward of the mizzenmast. Breen hoisted the en 
 sign to the monkey gaff, which, as the flag was 
 small and the wind light, held up under the 
 strain. 
 
 " Code pennant," muttered the captain, as the 
 stranger's ensign came down and a small triangular 
 flag went up. " Answer that," he said to Breen, 
 kicking a small flag toward him. " Send it up on 
 t'other part o' the halyards. " Breen obliged him. 
 
 " Now get our number hooked together," said 
 the captain, naming four letters. " They're 
 stamped on the canvas edge. See them? J 
 on top, then the rest." 
 
 He opened the code book to interpret the four
 
 250 MASTERS OF MEN 
 
 flags now flying from the stranger's gaff, and 
 Breen made up the ship's number. 
 
 " Annie M. Sheldon, o' Halifax," muttered the 
 skipper. Then he verified Breen's arrangement 
 of the flags before ordering them hoisted. 
 
 "You do seem to know somethin', after all," 
 he said sharply. 
 
 " More than you do," muttered Dick in the rig 
 ging, a little fearful that Breen, unaware of the 
 captain's lately aroused suspicion, would show too 
 great a proficiency at signalling ; but he could not 
 warn him now. 
 
 The number went aloft, and Captain Bilker 
 jotted down on an envelope the interpretation of 
 three signals which followed in rapid succession 
 from the other. 
 
 " Six days out o' Montevideo for Cape Town," 
 he read. Then he directed the hoisting of three 
 sets of flags which told the other ship that they 
 were fifty-seven days out of New York bound to 
 Hong Kong. 
 
 " Now that's over," said Captain Bilker, " we'll 
 ask for news. Run up B W F." 
 
 Breen quickly toggled these flags together and 
 hoisted them, watched closely by the captain. 
 
 Four flags answered from the other, and Captain 
 Bilker, observing through the glasses, called out : 
 " C K Y K. What the deuce is he drivin' 
 at?"
 
 BARBARISM 251 
 
 He studied his book. " Battle," he announced. 
 " Must be spellin' somethin' out. Run up the 
 answerin' pennant." 
 
 Breen picked it up readily. It was the same 
 small flag which he had hoisted first, and had two 
 uses, one to indicate the code used, the other to 
 signify that a signal is understood. 
 
 " How d'you know that was the answerin' pen 
 nant ? " yelled the captain in his ear. " Hey ? 
 Tell me. How d'you know so much 'bout these 
 flags ? " 
 
 " You told me to hoist it, sir," answered Breen, 
 flushing slightly, yet ready with an explanation. 
 "I was valet to a yacht owner once, sir, and I've 
 seen these flags before." 
 
 The captain glared at him a moment, then said 
 with a sniff : " I b'lieve yer a-lyin'. Don't you try 
 an' fool me. Up wi' that pennant. What the 
 h 1 are ye gapin' at ? " 
 
 Three other flags were now flying from the Nova 
 Scotiaman, and the captain read: C L J. 
 Then he turned to his book. 
 
 " Ship," he said. " "What on earth does he 
 mean ? Answer." 
 
 Breen, who had lowered the pennant, again ran 
 it up. He had not unhooked it from the halyards, 
 and the captain noticed it. 
 
 " He's a gentleman's man, and a yacht-owner's 
 valet," muttered the captain, as he studied another
 
 252 MASTERS OF MEN 
 
 signal from the stranger. " I wonder if he knows 
 what B Q K J means ? " Glancing suspi 
 ciously at Breen's fixed face, he consulted the 
 book. 
 
 " Geographical signal," he said, turning the 
 leaves. " Maine battleship Maine that's what 
 he's saying. What next ? " 
 
 He read another signal, then another, and an 
 other, each following in rapid succession, jotting 
 down the interpretations as he read them in the 
 book. Then he read aloud : " Battleship Maine 
 destroyed Havana February 15. Since we 
 sailed ! " he added excitedly. " Answer that, and 
 stand by." 
 
 He turned the leaves, studied a page, and said, 
 "KunupC G M." 
 
 " C G M, sir ? " answered Breen, fumbling 
 the flags as excitedly as Captain Bilker fumbled the 
 leaves of the book. " Did you say, C G M, 
 sir, orC G N3" 
 
 " What'd I tell you," yelled the captain, reopen 
 ing the book. " Keep yer ears open. C G N. 
 That asks if there's any chance o' war. Now up 
 wi' it, now that ye know all 'bout it." 
 
 Breen, with sparkling eyes, changed the signal, 
 and Dick overhead mingled wonder as to the fate 
 of his old ship and shipmates with appreciation 
 of Breen's ability to take care of himself. 
 
 But the signal did not leave the deck. The
 
 BARBARISM 253 
 
 excited skipper, to hurry matters, had bent the 
 end of the halyards to the loop of the upper flag 
 while Breen changed the lower. He made a slip 
 pery hitch, and as Breen hauled on the other part 
 the flags dropped and the end went aloft. 
 
 " Ketch it ! " shouted the captain to Dick. 
 "Ketch that end 'fore it unreeves." 
 
 It was out of Dick's reach, but he danced up the 
 rigging after it. To no avail, however ; the higher 
 it went, the lighter it got, and the halyards whizzed 
 through the sheave on the gaff and settled in a 
 tangle on the house and deck. Captain Bilker's 
 rage was akin to insanity. 
 
 " Get up there," he screamed to Breen. " Take 
 that end aloft an' reeve it off, you infernal monkey. 
 Don't wait to say yer prayers. Up wi' you ! " 
 
 Breen answered quietly, took the end and 
 mounted the weather rigging, meeting Dick, who 
 had come down to his work. 
 
 "Don't get on that gaff till you seize off the 
 lift," said Dick, softly. " It's chafed through, and 
 he knows it. And he's suspicious of you. Just 
 learned it. Here's a piece of marline." 
 
 " You say he knows it ? " 
 
 " Reported it myself this morning." 
 
 " All right." 
 
 Breen took the length of marline and went aloft, 
 while Captain Bilker improved the delay by walk 
 ing back and forth and glaring unspeakable things
 
 254 MASTERS OF MEN 
 
 at Dick. He could not but have understood the 
 meaning of the short talk and the transfer of 
 marline, yet when Breen, having reached the 
 monkey gaff at the topmast crosstrees, instead of 
 climbing out on the smooth pole, made fast the 
 end of halyards and climbed to the lift above at 
 the cap, he broke forth into a tirade of profanity. 
 
 " Get out an' reeve off them halyards," lie roared 
 between oaths. " D'ye hear, up there, you white- 
 livered whelp ? What's the matter wi' ye ? " 
 
 To which Breen, busy at the seizing, made no 
 response. He finished, descended to the gaff, 
 climbed out and rove the halyards, and overhauled 
 the end to the deck. Captain Bilker caught it, and, 
 hitching it to the flags, hoisted the signal, while 
 Breen descended. His face was very pale as he 
 passed Dick in the rigging, and he said : 
 
 " That lift wouldn't have held the weight of 
 a poodle dog. He was willing I should fall." 
 
 As Breen reached the deck the captain was 
 jotting down a reading of a new signal, obviously 
 too engrossed now to punish Breen. " Up wi' the 
 answerin' pennant," he said, and watched the sig 
 nals through the glasses. Then he seized the book 
 and turned the leaves. 
 
 " America," he muttered. " War expected be 
 tween America and what next ? " 
 
 Again he peered through the glasses. 
 
 " Up wi' that pennant again," he said, over his
 
 BARBARISM 255 
 
 shoulder, and Breen, who had abstracted an iron 
 belaying-pin from the fife-rail, tucked it into his 
 belt and obeyed. The captain consulted the book. 
 
 "D F W," he muttered. "What is it? 
 Spanish ! War expected between America and 
 Spain," he declared solemnly as he looked up. 
 " Mr. Thorpe," he called to the mate, now on the 
 forecastle deck, " come ! " 
 
 " Yes, you murdering devil," interrupted Breen, 
 with the belaying-pin over his shoulder. His face 
 was still white, but his words came forth with a 
 business-like distinctness quite at variance with the 
 gentle speech of the gentleman's man. u And in 
 the name of the United States government I take 
 charge of this ship. Do you surrender, quietly, 
 and instantly, or shall I kill you where you stand \ " 
 
 " Wha what ? What you say ? " stammered 
 the captain, backing away. 
 
 " I am a government officer," said Breen, fol 
 lowing, his iron club high over his head. " Do 
 you give me charge of this ship?" 
 
 " No, by heaven ! I'll see you and the gov " 
 
 The heavy iron belaying-pin came down, and 
 the captain fell like a sack of meal. 
 
 " Down from aloft, Halpin," called Breen, but 
 Dick was already stepping out of the rigging. 
 "The game is up. Did you hear? The coun 
 try's expecting war. Don't let the mate into the 
 cabin. Kill him if necessary."
 
 MASTERS OP MEN 
 
 "Very good, sir," answered Dick, securing 
 another iron club similar to Breen's. The ensign 
 descended the after companion, while Dick 
 vaulted over the monkey-rail and sprang off the 
 poop into the path of Mr. Thorpe, hurrying aft 
 in response to the captain's call. 
 
 How easy it was after the first blow was 
 struck. Dick faced the terrible first mate with a 
 smile on his face and joy in his heart. 
 
 " Stop where you are," he said calmly. " Ensign 
 Breen, of the United States navy, has confiscated 
 this ship and orders me to kill you if you make 
 trouble. Understand ? " 
 
 " Going to kill me, are you ? Why ? What 
 have I done that I'm to be killed? " Mr. Thorpe 
 backed away, and Dick followed. There was no 
 fear in the face or the voice of the mate, even 
 though he had seen the young man before him 
 thrash the big Pig Jones that morning. But with 
 his arm in a sling he was not at present fighting 
 with fists, or against them ; neither was he oppos 
 ing iron belaying-pins. He was simply the signed 
 first officer of this ship, whose life was threat 
 ened, and he took the right and proper course 
 of action. With a sudden sidespring he drew a 
 revolver and fired left-handed at Dick ; but he 
 missed, and proved that his excellent marksman 
 ship with the marline-spike was merely acci 
 dental. Dick rushed toward him, and the officer
 
 BARBARISM 257 
 
 fired again as he retreated. Dick followed on, 
 in a frenzy borne of his danger, risking death 
 because he loved life, seeking only to get at this 
 man who was trying to kill him. Around the 
 booby hatch they manoeuvred around the cap 
 stan, back to the poop steps, and forward again 
 until, at the main fife-rail, as the mate paused to 
 fire his fifth shot, a report rang out from the poop, 
 and he whirled around in his tracks with arms 
 extended, reeled, fell, and lay quiet on the deck. 
 Dick turned, and saw the ensign lowering a 
 smoking rifle from his shoulder. 
 
 "Down from aloft, everybody," sang out Breen. 
 " Halpin, come here ! " Dick approached and 
 received a revolver handed down to him. " Call 
 the second mate call the watch, forward there ! " 
 he added in a voice which the men scrambling 
 down from the rigging had not heard before. 
 
 Sawyer appeared ; the firing had awakened 
 him. He rubbed his eyes as he looked at the 
 quiet form on the deck amidships ; then he looked 
 at Dick, carelessly holding his pistol muzzle down, 
 and at Breen above on the house. 
 
 " Sawyer," said Breen, " the United States 
 expects war with Spain, and I've taken charge of 
 this ship as a naval officer. I think I've killed 
 the mate and I think I've killed the skipper. 
 Shall I kill you, too, or will you take orders from 
 me?" 
 
 8
 
 258 MASTERS OF MEN 
 
 " Don't kill me, sir," answered Sawyer, with a 
 deprecatory gesture, while the slightest trace of a 
 smile came to his face. " I submit to a show of 
 force. I'll take orders from anybody with a gun. 
 Just tell me what I'm to do, sir." 
 
 " Get all hands aft here at once." 
 
 " Yery good, sir." 
 
 The speech which Breen made to the men when 
 they appeared before him was short, sharp, and 
 expressive. In it he stated his position with re 
 gard to the government and the law. He granted 
 permission for any and all of them to disbelieve 
 him before his future handling of the ship and 
 themselves convinced them of the truth of his 
 words, but promised instant death to the first 
 man who should act on his disbelief. To which 
 the men, with wonder and shock in their faces, 
 made no response. They shuffled their feet 
 uneasily, looking at each other, at the complaisant 
 second mate, at the stern-faced Dick, and at the 
 sterner-faced young man on the house who had 
 won their regard by his gentleness, politeness, and 
 deference to their superiority. Eight bells at the 
 wheel struck while Breen waited for their answer, 
 and with an impatient gesture he said, "Mr. 
 Sawyer, send two men up here to lift the captain 
 down to the mizzen hatch." 
 
 " Yery good, sir," answered Sawyer, with a 
 man-of-war's-man's salute. " Wagner Swanson,
 
 BARBARISM 259 
 
 bear a hand here. Up on the house wi' you and 
 bring the skipper down." 
 
 The two men hesitated, looking at each other 
 and around at their shipmates ; then they looked 
 up at Breen, slowly bringing his rifle to his 
 shoulder, and started for the steps. Their exam 
 ple seemed to decide the rest; when Sawyer 
 ordered two others to carry the mate to the hatch, 
 they obeyed readily. 
 
 The captain was carried down and laid beside 
 the mate ; then Breen called out : " Strike eight 
 bells. Dinner, the watch," and the men moved 
 slowly forward. Breen had mastered them.
 
 CHAPTEK XL 
 
 "l^TEITHER the captain nor the mate was 
 -L i dead. While Breen, Dick, and Sawyer 
 examined them on the hatch, the mate quivered 
 convulsively, rolled over on his side, and relapsed 
 into half-consciousness. Breen's bullet had glanced 
 from his skull. A little later, Captain Bilker arose 
 to a sitting posture and stared at them with sleepy 
 eyes while he uttered a sound that was half 
 groan, half growl. Breen breathed a deep sigh 
 of relief, and Dick, with his pistol at the captain's 
 head, could yet notice that the ensign was deadly 
 pale, that his hand trembled, and that drops of 
 perspiration collected as fast as he brushed them 
 away. 
 
 "I'm glad it's better I'm glad, now," he 
 said brokenly, "that I didn't kill them. They 
 both deserve it, of course, but they ought to do it 
 themselves. Mr. Sawyer," he added, "get leg 
 irons out and shackle them together by the 
 ankles, left to right right to left." 
 
 Sawyer disappeared in the cabin, and Captain 
 Bilker, still sitting and regarding them stupidly, 
 still covered by Dick's pistol, broke forth into 
 aimless, senseless abuse. He could not quite 
 
 260
 
 BARBARISM 261 
 
 grasp the situation ; but when Sawyer had locked 
 his right ankle to the mate's left, and his left to 
 the mate's right, he was sufficiently awakened to 
 ask irrelevant questions, by which time Breen was 
 sufficiently composed to answer and Mr. Thorpe 
 conscious enough to listen. 
 
 " What you doin', anyhow what you put the 
 darbies on us for ? " he asked with a snarl. 
 
 " We ironed you," answered Breen, incisively, 
 "to keep you quiet to restrain you from any 
 futile and intemperate action. You will remain 
 in irons until released by the order of the nearest 
 consul." 
 
 " We will, hey ? D'ye know this is mutiny ? 
 D'ye know I'm captain o' this ship?" 
 
 " I know that you were captain ; but you are 
 deprived of command by a representative of the 
 United States government. I am a naval officer, 
 as I have unavailingly told you before, and my 
 acts will be upheld by any official you may appeal 
 to. Do you understand that you, and your ship, 
 and your owners, and your combined value to 
 the commerce of America, are of small import 
 ance compared with the country's need of her 
 officers and seamen when war threatens ? I waive 
 all consideration of your attempt on my life this 
 morning, and rest my case on the fact that you 
 were restraining me from my duty taking me 
 to sea when I am needed in the navy. So, as
 
 262 MASTERS OF MEN 
 
 you are of a troublesome, dissatisfied disposition 
 you will be confined in irons on forecastle rations 
 until we quit this ship." 
 
 "How'll you quit in the middle o' the South 
 Atlantic? Why didn't you make it clear why 
 didn't you prove yourself, if you belong to the 
 navy. I didn't know." 
 
 " Yes, you did, you scoundrel," said Breen, 
 angrily. " You came to that knowledge this 
 morning, when I failed to conceal my acquaint 
 ance with signal flags. Instead of recognizing 
 my claim, you tried to murder me. You sent me 
 aloft to a job which would have killed me had 
 I not been warned." 
 
 " And I'm d sorry," spluttered the captain 
 in a burst of rage, "that you didn't come down 
 by the run and break yer neck. Take these irons 
 off my legs, and I'll land you at the nearest port 
 and be d d to you." 
 
 " This will do," said Breen, coldly. " Stand up, 
 the pair of you." 
 
 The mate had by this time assumed a sitting 
 posture, but was hardly in condition to speak. 
 
 " Stand up," repeated Breen. " Catch one 
 another by the shoulders and stand up, or we'll 
 lift you with ropes around your necks. Quickly ! " 
 
 Breen's earnestness was more than evident. 
 They looked at his stern countenance, forward to 
 the observant watch on deck clustered near the
 
 BARBARISM 263 
 
 galley door, and into each other's eyes. Then 
 they gripped each other's coat sleeves and hove 
 themselves erect. 
 
 " March," commanded Breen, " to the poop 
 steps, climb them, and make your way to the 
 lazarette hatch." 
 
 The captain backing, and the wakening mate 
 following unsteadily, they moved in this reversed 
 lock-step to the poop stairs, which they mounted 
 slowly and painfully. Then they passed along 
 the alley, cursing their victors furiously as they 
 went, and stumbled around before the amazed 
 helmsman to the lazarette hatch. Sawyer was 
 ahead of them and lifted the cover. Breen and 
 Dick were close behind. 
 
 " Down you go," said Breen. " Remember that 
 I am the legitimate commander of this ship, em 
 powered by law to enforce my orders with powder 
 and shot." 
 
 He held his rifle carelessly in line with their 
 heads, and Dick still carried the revolver. They 
 seated themselves on the hatch combing, inserted 
 their legs, and floundered down to the flooring 
 below. 
 
 " You will be ironed by the legs to a stanchion," 
 said Breen, looking down ; " but your hands will 
 be left free, and you will receive medical atten 
 tion ; you will be closely watched, however, and 
 any overt act of resistance or insubordination will
 
 264 MASTERS OF MEN 
 
 result in your death. I will shoot you in irons. 
 Mr. Sawyer, make them fast to a stanchion, and 
 tell the steward to nurse their hurts and feed 
 them the forecastle allowance." 
 
 " Yery good, sir." And Sawyer went forward 
 with a joyous grin on his face, while Breen 
 mounted the house and went to the mizzen- 
 mast. 
 
 " Come up here, Halpin," he said. 
 
 He was examining the Nova Scotiaman through 
 the glasses when Dick reached his side. 
 
 " "We'll ask a few more questions," he said. 
 " We know that the Maine is destroyed, and that 
 war is expected that is all." Breen consulted 
 the code-book. "Lucky I remembered what 
 C G N meant," he added, turning the leaves. 
 " It's a stock question in all navies. The skipper 
 would have signalled the next letters above, which 
 merely make an irrelevant statement. We might 
 not have got this news. Run up C B T, and 
 ask if there are any men-of-war about." 
 
 Dick hoisted this signal, and the other ship 
 responded with a series which Breen interpreted 
 and jotted down on the captain's envelope. 
 When finished, he read to Dick : 
 
 " Spanish Temerario, Montevideo American 
 Buffalo, purchased, Rio Janeiro American Ore 
 gon, sailed, San Francisco, March 19, Cuba." 
 
 "The Oregon sailed March 19th," said Breen
 
 BAKBARISM 265 
 
 when he had done some multiplying on the en 
 velope. " She must be off the Horn, now, or in 
 the Straits. She'll likely coal at Punta Arenas, 
 possibly at Montevideo, and surely at Kio. "We'll 
 keep away from Montevideo for the present 
 while the Temerario is around. Our place is Rio. 
 With fair luck we can make Rio in time to join 
 the Oregon, and then war. Know what it 
 means, Halpin ? " 
 
 " Are you sure, sir, that we'll have it ? " 
 
 "We've got to. I won't have it otherwise. 
 
 " We'll ask more news," said Breen at length, 
 turning the leaves. " Hook on D H C L. 
 That asks, ' How many were killed ? ' Then we'll 
 give the Maine's name." 
 
 The answer to these signals was a couple of 
 hoists which indicated " two hundred and sixty." 
 
 " That'll be enough," said Breen. " Two hun 
 dred and sixty some of them our friends, per 
 haps. I knew all her officers. Oh, there'll be 
 war, Dick. Run up the ensign and dip it. Funny, 
 but I feel better." 
 
 The steward joined them as Dick hoisted the 
 ensign. 
 
 " Where will you eat, sir ? " he asked respect- 
 fully. 
 
 "At the cabin table as master of this ship," 
 said Breen. "This is Mr. Halpin, first mate. 
 Treat him as such. Mr. Sawyer is still second
 
 266 MASTERS OF MEN 
 
 mate, and there will be no change in his position 
 for the present. Call him to dinner and serve 
 him at once. Then prepare the bath-tub and pro 
 cure from the slop chest two suits of clothing, the 
 best that you have, shirts, underclothing, socks, 
 shoes, everything complete." 
 
 " Yes, sir yes, sir." 
 
 The steward went down, most certainly im 
 pressed. 
 
 At one bell, before the port watch went to 
 dinner, Breen braced the ship sharp on the port 
 tack ; and though the men, when they began the 
 work, moved with a deliberation that was a sure 
 index of their doubt and dissatisfaction, it left 
 them before many of Breen's sharp, clear-cut 
 orders burst over their heads ; and later in the 
 afternoon, when he took sights for his longitude 
 with Captain Bilker's sextant, they gave evidence 
 of being as fully impressed as was the steward. 
 
 Le roi est mort. Vive le roif Great is the 
 power of promise and powder and shot ! 
 
 Three weeks later, with the Sugar Loaf bearing 
 ahead and to port, Breen took his eyes from a 
 spot on the southern horizon to back the main- 
 yards and receive a Rio Janeiro pilot. 
 
 " What's the news from the United States ? " 
 he asked. 
 
 " War declared on Spain nine days ago. Didn't 
 you know? Havana's blockaded, and we're on
 
 BARBARISM 267 
 
 the lookout here for the Oregon and Marietta. 
 Seen anything of 'em ? " 
 
 " What do you make of that?" answered Breen, 
 handing him the binoculars, and pointing to the 
 southward. The pilot looked. 
 
 " Oregon" he said shortly. " The Marietta is 
 just astern of her. Just my luck. I'd ha' taken 
 her in if you hadn't come along." 
 
 The spot grew larger and took on form, a 
 broad-beamed, one-masted, two-funnelled floating 
 fortress, rushing along at steam-yacht speed, 
 with the pygmy consort in her wake. At the 
 entrance to the harbor the two passed the Mary 
 Earl, the big battleship ploughing up a bow wave 
 halfway to the top of her ram bow, her funnels 
 belching, her engines humming hundreds of 
 white-clad men dotting her deck. 
 
 " Halpin, we're just in time," said Breen, with 
 glistening eyes. "We'll report to her captain 
 instead of the consul. It will save complications. 
 We'll go north in the Oregon" 
 
 " And the ship ? " asked Dick. 
 
 "Can take care of herself. The official log 
 has our confessions. Let Sawyer report to the 
 consul." 
 
 They left the Mary Earl in a shore boat, Saw 
 yer and the little steward waving hands at the 
 gangway, the crew cheering from the rail and 
 rigging. But there was one discordant note in
 
 268 MASTERS OF MEN 
 
 the godspeed. Pig Jones, rejuvenated and re 
 vengeful, appeared on the top of the forward 
 house with an apronful of potatoes, which he 
 threw at them until they were out of range. 
 Then they heard him dare the remonstrating 
 Sawyer to fight. 
 
 " She is still a hell ship," said Breen.
 
 BOOK IV 
 
 CIVILIZATION 
 CHAPTER XLI 
 
 IT is night on the Santiago blockade a hot 
 July night conducive to profanity and exces 
 sive libations at the scuttle-butt ; a night when 
 men breathe the muggy air with extra muscular 
 effort, and care little for their speech or personal 
 appearance ; when officers don pajamas and main 
 tain dignity with white uniform caps when 
 seamen strip to underclothing, and, unspokenly, 
 consign dignity to the lower regions. 
 
 There are three lines to this blockade: an 
 outside semicircle of the heavy ships, turreted 
 fighters, with range of gun fire greater than the 
 radius ; an inner line of torpedo boats, converted 
 yachts, and swift tugs, messengers and despatch 
 bearers, the light cavalry of a fleet ; within this 
 crescent, a row of small steam launches, look 
 outs, well supplied with binoculars, and with but 
 one note of alarm expected and hoped of them 
 the signal that the imprisoned fleet within 
 had shown signs of breaking bonds. A brilliant 
 pencil of light, a point at its seaward end, a 
 
 269
 
 270 MASTERS OF MEN 
 
 broad refulgence where it impinges on the rocky 
 shores of the harbour mouth, indicates the pres 
 ence, on the second line, of the search-light ship, 
 a detailed monster of the outside semicircle 
 with steam sufficient for the candle power. She 
 is relieved every four hours, and the change is the 
 only diversion of the night to the overstrained 
 nerves of the picket crews. 
 
 On the second line, with bow inshore and all 
 lights out but the binnacle lamp in the conning 
 tower, lay a dun-coloured torpedo boat ; and close 
 up in the bow, sprawled face up on the turtle- 
 back, with feet resting on the low hand-rail, lay 
 Dick Halpin. He was not sleeping; he was 
 thinking. Back of him on the turtleback, and 
 farther back on the main deck, lay his shipmates, 
 in all postures and in a common frame of mind. 
 Spasmodically and earnestly they reviled the 
 night, the heat, the luck, and each other. 
 They anathematized the war, the Spanish, the 
 boat and her equipment, everything within 
 their ken on that hot night came under the 
 ban but the officer who commanded and the 
 admiral who had condemned them. 
 
 Dick, to escape the ceaseless grumbling, which 
 could not wholly voice his own discontent, had 
 sought the farthest corner, and lay in this attitude 
 most conducive to philosophy, trying to solve the 
 past and probe the future. He was the avowed
 
 CIVILIZATION 271 
 
 friend of a man whom he had hated intensely a 
 few months before a man who had admitted 
 hating him then, and had since won his regard 
 in spite of himself, who had sounded his praises 
 to two ships' companies, and had secured him his 
 present rating of signalman in the torpedo boat of 
 which he himself had been given command. Dick 
 had been called aft on the quarterdeck of the Ore 
 gon and introduced by the enthusiastic Breen as 
 " Mr." Halpin to a group of kindly eyed officers, 
 who, from the captain down, shook his hand, 
 and complimented him upon his skill with his 
 fists. Dick gathered that Breen had described 
 his terrible fight with the giant Pig Jones. 
 These men were gentlemen, and their congratu 
 lations were sincere ; yet he wondered if they 
 would have complimented one of themselves as 
 highly, and if Breen would have been so enthusi 
 astic if the feat had been his own. Later, this 
 was repeated on board the flagship, which they 
 had joined at Key West, and he had listened 
 to kind words from the grave-faced admiral, 
 who told him that he hoped to hear further 
 from him before the war ended. This was well 
 more than well; but against it was the in 
 fluence of his early training. He possessed cour 
 age, surely, which he shared with bull dogs. It 
 was the commonest of human attributes, and 
 it was not enough. Intelligence education
 
 272 MASTERS OF MEN 
 
 breeding ? Possibly. But opportunity the ac 
 cident of time, place, and environment was 
 necessary to bring tangible recognition and re 
 ward for the best of inherent aptitudes, and it 
 had been denied him. It had come to Breen, but 
 not yet to him. Would the war bring it, as the 
 admiral had hoped ? He had been relegated to 
 a torpedo boat, which ran errands in the day and 
 did picket duty at night. He had watched, safely 
 out of range, three bombardments of the forts, 
 and envied men the wild joy of being under 
 fire. He had volunteered among the hundreds 
 who had responded to the call for men to take 
 the Merrimac in, but others were chosen, and 
 he had watched them go by, to death or 
 opportunity. 
 
 If opportunity should come to him, he would 
 seize it; if not, he would be of age in a couple 
 of months ; his time in the navy would be up, 
 and there would be something due him from his 
 mother's estate. This he would collect quickly 
 and hurry to the other side of the continent, 
 where Breen's wedding bells could not disturb 
 him. Then Mabel's face came before him, and 
 all philosophy left him.
 
 CHAPTER XLII 
 
 " TTALPIN," came a low voice from the dark- 
 
 J__L ness amidships. " Halpin," it sounded, 
 nearer. "Pass the word, there, for Halpin." 
 His name was repeated by others, and he arose 
 to his feet. 
 
 "The old man wants ye," said a man old 
 enough to be Breen's father. 
 
 Dick found Breen close up to the stern, in 
 about the same attitude which he himself had 
 assumed forward, flat on his back, with his 
 head pillowed on the bed of the torpedo tube. 
 
 " Want me, sir ? " he asked, saluting in the 
 darkness. 
 
 " Yes, Dick. Lie down here, and never mind 
 the ' sir.' We're aboard the hell ship for a time, 
 and there's no one near. I want to talk to 
 you." 
 
 Dick stretched himself beside his captain, and 
 Breen, after a full minute's silence, said softly 
 and slowly : 
 
 "I got letters to-day. Did you?" 
 
 "No," answered Dick. "No one writes to 
 me." 
 
 "They write about you, however. I wrote 
 
 T 273
 
 274 MASTERS OF MEN 
 
 from Jupiter Inlet to Miss Arthur, explaining 
 where I'd disappeared to, and telling about you 
 and something of our experience together. I 
 got her answer to-day been chasing me all 
 around the fleet. She is very glad that you 
 did not desert, and says that she expects to see 
 you coming home an officer." 
 
 " An officer ! " gulped Dick, his heart beating 
 painfully, and his face burning. "Did she 
 really speak of me? An officer! But that 
 means an 'officer and a gentleman.' Shall you 
 write to her again?" 
 
 " Of course." 
 
 " "Will you tell her, please, that I am grateful 
 for her interest in me, and that though it is 
 impossible for me under the law to come home 
 an officer, I may come home a gentleman. And 
 say that I am heartily ashamed of my manner 
 and language in the bridge car, and thoroughly 
 sorry and that I hope she will pardon and 
 forget it." 
 
 "Eight, I will," laughed Breen. "What did 
 you do ? Lay her out for looking at you in your 
 old ducks and coal dust ? She laid me out for it." 
 
 "Worse," growled Dick, disgustedly. "I in 
 sulted her. I'm nothing but a cad, after all." 
 
 " She doesn't waste her time on cads, Dick," 
 said Breen, gently ; " but what kind of a repu 
 tation have you up there in that town? We've
 
 CIVILIZATION 275 
 
 had our names in the papers. You are supposed 
 to have murdered me that night, disposed of my 
 body, and escaped. Hence our disappearance." 
 
 " Oh, I know," said Dick, as he thought of the 
 clipping Bessie had sent him. "My reputation 
 will admit of anything; but there is one thing 
 cleared up, which I have learned about lately. 
 Did you know that I left home four years ago a 
 proven thief ? " 
 
 " Why, no I heard about it ; but you were 
 cleared at the time, weren't you ? " 
 
 " Yes, but I didn't know it. I didn't know until 
 lately. All these years I thought I was considered 
 a jailbird at home, and that's what made me so 
 ready to lick that crowd. Pig Jones told me at 
 the wheel one night when he was drunk enough 
 to talk to me ; but I didn't speak to you about it 
 on account " He hesitated. 
 
 " I understand, Dick. Yes a brother officer. 
 He's out there now, bullying good men. An 
 officer and a gentleman. No, the government 
 made him an officer, but the most unpopular 
 man in his class, they say. I heard about that 
 scrape at school long before I met you not from 
 his sister, however from a friend of hers. You 
 certainly acted the gentleman, Dick, until, of 
 course, you were driven to desperation. But 
 I wish I could have seen that chase over the 
 desks." Breen finished with a laugh.
 
 276 MASTERS OF MEN 
 
 " I always wanted to be a gentleman," said 
 Dick, gloomily ; " but the navy toughens a man, 
 and knocks it out of him. But at that time," 
 he raised his voice slightly, " I'd a better right 
 to the title than he. But his father was rich and 
 put him into the Academy, while I 
 
 " Kich ? " queried Breen ; " not so very rich 
 not so rich, I think, as Richard Halpin, seaman 
 gunner for Uncle Sam. What made you ship, 
 anyway, with all that money coming to you ? " 
 
 " Money," repeated Dick. " Yes, there was a 
 little due me when I came of age." 
 
 "Four hundred and fifty thousand dollars are 
 waiting for you up in that little town, Miss Arthur 
 says. The lawyers are looking for you." 
 
 " "What ! " exclaimed Dick, sitting up. 
 
 "That's what she says. Your mother left 
 you fifty thousand, and your uncle you know 
 he is dead, don't you?" Dick nodded in the 
 darkness. 
 
 " Your uncle died intestate, and you are next of 
 kin. Four hundred thousand morei Whew ! 
 and I've nothing but my pay. ISTo wonder the 
 girls like you, Dick." There was a little bitterness 
 in the slight laugh with which Breen concluded. 
 
 " But why didn't I know this ? Why did no 
 one tell me ? " 
 
 " Couldn't find you. l!^o one knew where you 
 were. I told Miss Arthur on the day you cleaned
 
 CIVILIZATION 277 
 
 out the town ; and I suppose you were shanghaied 
 before the news got to the lawyer." 
 
 " Four hundred and fifty thousand dollars," 
 muttered Dick, as his mind flashed back to his 
 boyish plans for study and advancement. " Why, 
 a man could be a gentleman very easily with all 
 that money, couldn't he ? " 
 
 " Yes, some kinds of a gentleman all kinds, 
 if he is born one. But the best society in the land 
 will welcome you, Dick. Cut your hair, and tune 
 up a little when your time's out. You're all right." 
 
 " But it's not all not enough. Do you know 
 that I'd give it all for an appointment to 
 Annapolis ? " 
 
 " All the money in the world wouldn't buy the 
 appointment at your age. You're too old,- and 
 only the President could send you there. There 
 may be a chance in this mix if you do good work 
 and the admiral recommends you. "Why, with 
 your start you could rush through in two years." 
 
 " Then give me what chance you can," said 
 Dick, vehemently. " Give me risky work the 
 craziest that comes along. I'll do it." 
 
 Breen did not answer. He stood erect and ele 
 vated a pair of binoculars. " Something up," he 
 remarked. Dick also arose to his feet, and a man 
 hurried aft with the information that the search 
 light was shifting, and that lights were moving 
 about at the harbour mouth.
 
 278 MASTERS OP MEN 
 
 " I see," answered Breen, the glasses still to his 
 eyes. " Watch the flagship, and see what is said. 
 The pickets are signalling." 
 
 Coloured lights were showing from the inside 
 line ; the beam of light from the battleship on 
 station was wavering reaching to the right and 
 left, exposing in its vivid glare first one shore, 
 then the other. But barring two or three twin 
 kling points in the darkness without the glare, 
 nothing could be seen, even through Breen's 
 binoculars. 
 
 " The flagship is signalling, sir," said Dick, 
 straining his eyes at a vertical row of coloured 
 lights far out to sea. " I didn't get the first of it, 
 but she seems to be telling the search-light ship to 
 do something there it is, sir launch. A recon 
 noitring job." 
 
 "Anything for us yet?" 
 
 " No, sir." 
 
 " We'll wait. Watch out." 
 
 Dick went forward, returning with a pair of 
 glasses, and, as was his duty, kept close watch for 
 signals ; but nothing showed. The minutes went 
 by, while the twinkling points shoreward went 
 out in the blackness, and the wavering search 
 light settled down to its steady scrutiny of the 
 channel. Presently the humming of a small 
 engine sounded in the distance, and soon after a 
 small gray spot on the water took on the form
 
 CIVILIZATION 279 
 
 and detail of a steam launch, coming toward 
 them from seaward. 
 
 " Boat ahoy ! " called Breen softly as the launch 
 drew near. The engine stopped. 
 
 " Hello," answered a voice which Dick recog 
 nized. " Is that you, Mr. Breen ? " 
 
 " Yes. What's up ? " 
 
 " I'll come alongside." 
 
 The launch came quietly up to the quarter, and 
 George Arthur stepped aboard. 
 
 " I'm caught," he said to Breen as they shook 
 hands. " Fact is, I'm sent in to find out what 
 they're doing and that's all. I'm supposed to do 
 some signalling, and, hang it, I haven't had time 
 to learn the code ; and as for the nightly change, 
 why, I left it aboard. Can you give it to me ? " 
 
 "I can do better give you my signalman. 
 Take him along and take his advice." 
 
 " Thanks by George, yes ; I'm a thousand 
 times obliged. I've got to go in, and if there's 
 anything up I must flash it out to them. Now I 
 feel better." 
 
 " Go along, Halpin," said Breen, tersely. 
 
 " Halpin ? " queried the young cadet. " "Well 
 say, now, Mr. Breen, isn't this a little he's a pet 
 of yours, I know, but " 
 
 " You have applied to me for a signalman, and 
 I give you the best I have," interrupted Breen, 
 sternly. " You can suit yourself, sir."
 
 280 MASTERS OF MEN 
 
 " Oh, well, all right all right, sir," answered 
 the other. " Send him aboard when you're ready, 
 sir." 
 
 He strode toward the rail and stepped aboard 
 the launch. " Go along, Dick," said Breen, softly. 
 " If he gets into trouble, get him out of it. I'll 
 see to the credit." 
 
 " Thank you. Bully for you," was Dick's unsea- 
 manly answer to his officer. Then he jumped into 
 the launch. 
 
 " Go ahead," ordered the cadet ; and the engine 
 started. " I am told," he said sourly to Dick, " to 
 take your advice. If I need it, I'll call on you." 
 
 " Very good, sir," returned Dick, quietly, as he 
 seated himself beside him. 
 
 The little craft shot ahead into the blackness 
 beneath and without that brilliant shaft from the 
 search-light. The young officer had the wheel. 
 There were two other men in the cockpit, silently 
 crouching with elbows on their knees, and aft in 
 the other cockpit a machinist in charge of the 
 engine. 
 
 Nothing more was said ; the launch traversed 
 the short two miles to the harbour mouth, passing 
 the inner picket line unseen and unhailed, Dick 
 pondering on the strange hatred which this 
 pampered young gentleman had felt for him 
 since the trouble in school. This was their 
 first personal interview since that exciting chase
 
 CIVILIZATION 281 
 
 over red desks, but George Arthur had been 
 on the New Yor^s quarter-deck when he had been 
 called aft to meet the officers, and had shown his 
 attitude toward him in the derisive smile that had 
 come to his face, and in the superior stare with 
 which he had regarded him every time that chance 
 had thrown Dick into his path. 
 
 " "We must be close in, sir," suggested the ma 
 chinist, softly. " Shall I slow down so as to quiet 
 the engine a little ? " , 
 
 " Yes yes," answered Arthur, quickly. " Slow 
 down stop altogether. I can't see a thing. 
 Can any one see ? " 
 
 " Morro's broad on the starboard bow, sir," said 
 Dick, whose eyes were good. 
 
 "And there's land right ahead high land," 
 said the engineer. 
 
 "Eight I see. Must be Socapa. "Where the 
 deuce were those lights, anyhow ? "What am I to 
 find out in here ? Nothing going on that I see." 
 
 " There was a log boom across the channel a little 
 farther in, sir," said one of the men. " If it is still 
 there, it proves that no torpedo boats are out to 
 night." 
 
 " But if we get that far," added Dick, " we 
 might not get back." 
 
 " I told you that if I wanted your advice I'd call 
 on you," said the cadet, angrily. "Remember 
 that."
 
 282 MASTERS OF MEN 
 
 Dick bit his lip, but blamed only himself. 
 
 " Go ahead with the machine," ordered the 
 young gentleman. " We'll see about that boom, 
 anyway." 
 
 Dick grinned bitterly. 
 
 The boat went ahead at half speed. In five 
 minutes one of the men in the cockpit, who had 
 been looking astern, said, " Light over to star 
 board, sir well abaft the beam." They looked, 
 but saw nothing; yet the man repeated that he 
 had seen it, close down to the water. Then a 
 flash as of mild lightning lit up the bluff to star 
 board, a crackling report followed, and water 
 splashed in their faces. Then followed shouts 
 in Spanish, and other shots, while a small search 
 light from the battlements sought them out, reveal 
 ing to them as it wandered a clear expanse of 
 channel ahead, a string of logs partly stowed under 
 the batteries, and two armed launches putting out 
 from the small landing astern and to starboard, 
 where the man had seen the light. The search 
 light from above caught them, and a rapid-fire 
 blast of small shot and shell ensued, while the 
 search-light from seaward lifted and flooded the 
 batteries. The two sailors lay quietly down in 
 the bottom of the boat. 
 
 ""We've got to get out o' here, sir," said the 
 engineer. " I'll give her full speed, if you'll put 
 the wheel over."
 
 CIVILIZATION 283 
 
 " Yes, give it to her ! " yelled the young officer, 
 excitedly, as he ground on the wheel ; and then, to 
 Dick, "This is your fault, d you. Oh-oh-oh 
 o-o-o-o-o ! " The speech ended in a groan, and 
 George tumbled to the bottom beside the two 
 sailors. Dick sprang to the wheel. " Give her 
 steam," he called. " We'll have to run in not 
 out. Mr. Arthur's hit. We can't get out now." 
 
 There was no answer, and Dick, looking aft, 
 saw the engineer leaning over the combing of his 
 cockpit, as if he were dozing. 
 
 He steadied the launch up the channel. The 
 engineer had opened the steam valve to its widest, 
 and the little launch stormed ahead, followed by 
 the pitiless search-light from the hill, and pelted 
 by a sputtering fusillade of shot from the batteries 
 and from the pursuing launches astern ; but with 
 four men struck down, the fates seemed satisfied. 
 Dick felt the wind of several shots, felt the graz 
 ing of several bullets, and felt water rising over 
 his ankles; but no harm came to him. He 
 steered on, past the sunken Merrimac, around the 
 eastern face of Smith Cay, and here the search 
 light lost him and the gun fire ceased, across to 
 the western shore of the harbour, and with fires 
 nearly extinct grounded the launch on a shelving 
 beach at the foot of a hill. The pursuing launches 
 had turned back, confident, perhaps, that daylight 
 would show them their quarry.
 
 CHAPTER XLIII 
 
 WITH a little trouble in the darkness, for 
 Dick was not a competent engineer, he 
 shut off steam and regulated the ^fire ; then he ex 
 amined the men. The machinist was dead, so 
 were the two sailors ; they were all strangers to 
 him, and none had spoken or voluntarily moved 
 after the shots that had killed them. George 
 Arthur, partly immersed in water at the bottom 
 of the cockpit, was breathing painfully. Dick 
 lifted his head, and gently for this was Mabel's 
 brother inquired: "Are you badly hurt, sir? 
 What can I do 2 " 
 
 " Is it you, Dick ? " gasped George, faintly. 
 "I am done for, I think. I got it in the 
 back the back bone. I can't move my 
 legs. Can you lift me out of the water. 
 It smarts oh, how it smarts ! " 
 
 Dick lifted him bodily to the transom seat in 
 the cockpit, and pillowed his head on a small cork 
 fender. 
 
 " Where are we now ? " asked George, 
 when his groans had ceased. 
 
 "In the harbour, sir. I've beached her over 
 
 284
 
 CIVILIZATION 285 
 
 to the westward. We'll have to sneak out later, 
 when they've stopped looking for us." 
 
 " Yes. Try it. Be careful. It won't matter 
 to me. I'm going fast, Dick." 
 
 His voice was certainly weaker. 
 
 " I hope not, sir. If you can hold out until we 
 get to a surgeon " 
 
 He stopped, realizing the mockery in his words. 
 
 " Dick," said George, after an interval of silence, 
 "I want you to forgive me if you can, 
 for that matter in school." 
 
 " Oh, don't speak of that, George don't think 
 of it at all. Why, you straightened it all out at 
 the time." 
 
 "Under compulsion yes. To please my 
 
 sister. Tell me you forgive me." 
 
 " I do," answered Dick, tears starting to his 
 eyes. "With all my heart and soul I do." 
 
 There was a silence for a little, then George 
 spoke again. 
 
 " It was the only thing that ever came 
 
 between us that ever came between 
 Mabel and me. She always wanted me to 
 write to you; but I would not not even 
 for her. Tell her that I did, will you? 
 Tell her that I apologized to you." 
 
 " I will when I see her," answered Dick in a 
 choked voice. " I'll tell her if you want me to. 
 But it never mattered at all, George."
 
 286 MASTERS OF MEN 
 
 " Yes it did. I was a cur." 
 
 His breathing grew weaker and weaker while 
 Dick held his hand ; then he lifted his head a few 
 inches and spoke clearly and distinctly, with the last 
 flutter of strength and prescience which comes to 
 the dying. 
 
 " Dick," he said, " they were rigging in the log 
 boom across the channel. It means something 
 a torpedo attack on the fleet, perhaps. Run the 
 batteries and report this to the admiral. It will 
 make you. Then" his head sank down "go 
 to Mabel. Be good to my sister." 
 
 He said no more ; and Dick did not know the 
 moment when the wayward spirit took flight. 
 He was weeping convulsively, for the first time 
 since the day when little Bessie Fleming's sym 
 pathy had broken him down and humanized him. 
 
 But there was work to be done. He was in a 
 hostile harbour, with four dead men and a leaky 
 steam launch. Three plans flashed through his 
 mind, each fraught with danger. He could 
 leave the launch to the Spanish and the dead to 
 the buzzards, climb the hill, and strike the coast a 
 mile south ; here, if not caught by the Spaniards, 
 he might attract the attention of one of the small 
 craft of the fleet and be taken off. Or, he could 
 skirt the beach to the eastward, swim two chan 
 nels of three or four hundred yards' width, and, 
 if lucky, reach Guantanamo where the ships coaled,
 
 CIVILIZATION 287 
 
 or the army in the hills to the northward. Or he 
 could patch up the holes in the launch, make 
 steam, and in the gray of the morning, when the 
 search-light lifted and full light of day had not 
 come to aid the gunners in their aim, he could go 
 out the way that he had come. There was more 
 chance of success in the first two plans than in the 
 last ; but such success would bring him only a few 
 congratulations on his good luck in saving his life. 
 On the other hand, the running of three batteries, 
 the bringing out of the body of an officer, and the 
 report even a tardy report of the removal of 
 the log boom, was what he had wished for 
 opportunity, which comes to but a favoured few. 
 He might die in the attempt, but then her 
 brother had died. If he lived through it, he 
 would have recognition, honour, promotion per 
 haps an appointment to Annapolis. He saw 
 himself in uniform, a commissioned officer of the 
 United States navy an " officer and a gentle 
 man " ; and with the tears yet undried on his face 
 his resolution was taken. 
 
 It was about eleven o'clock, and when the 
 launch had grounded the ebb tide, as he reasoned 
 by an inspection of the beach, was about two hours 
 old. The water had flooded the fire as the boat 
 settled, and now, as the tide receded, it was drib 
 bling out through the shotholes in the bottom. 
 Dick dared not light a lantern ; he could only
 
 288 MASTERS OF MEN 
 
 search along the bottom, plank by plank, feeling 
 with his fingers, and stopping each hole as he 
 found it with a plug whittled from a swab handle. 
 The boat lay heeled to starboard, and the holes 
 on this side could only be reached from within ; 
 but as the shots had all come from the east side 
 of the channel, he hoped that there would be few. 
 Most that he found were bullet holes ; but here and 
 there was a ragged aperture made by a one-pound 
 shot, and one gaping hole near the water line in 
 dicated the work of a six-pounder. Before long 
 he realized that the night would be all too short 
 for the task of making that launch seaworthy, 
 and thankfully computed that the tide could not 
 get back until near daylight. This would leave 
 him scant time to fire up and run out before the 
 morning sun made him too visible for safety ; but 
 between broad daylight and the blinding glare of 
 a search-light he would choose the first. 
 
 He found pump-tacks and a hammer in the 
 engineer's locker ; he cut patches of canvas from 
 the white jumpers of the dead sailors, and tacked 
 them over all holes too large or too ragged to be 
 plugged. He worked feverishly, pantingly, inces 
 santly, knowing neither hunger, thirst, nor fear. 
 He was inspired not so much by patriotism as 
 by Mabel Arthur's complimentary injunction to 
 "come home an officer." 
 
 Daylight found him haggard and exhausted,
 
 CIVILIZATION 289 
 
 with all holes that he had found plugged or 
 patched, with steam hissing hot in the small 
 boiler, and his silent passengers laid out on the 
 forward transoms. It was time to go, and he was 
 ready to go, yet the tide had but just reached the 
 rudder of the launch and would not float it for 
 an hour. And while he waited he watched with 
 burning eyes the panorama unfolding as the dark 
 ness gave place to the sudden day of the tropics. 
 The launch lay near the middle of a concave 
 of beach, the arc of which ranged about east and 
 west. Off to the west, and farther still to the 
 north, were broad reaches of sparkling water, 
 bordered by partly wooded slopes of steep ground. 
 To the east lay the opposite shore of the channel, 
 which at a high bluff a little farther in broke 
 sharply to the northeast and extended in a straight 
 line to the city of Santiago, two miles away. 
 There were a few habitations in sight among the 
 trees, and here and there on the bay small sail and 
 steam craft, which paid no attention to the gray 
 spot on the southern beach. And after a cursory 
 inspection of each Dick paid as little attention to 
 them. His eyes were fixed on six black craft at 
 anchor just below the city, four cruisers and 
 two torpedo boats. Bunting was rising and fall 
 ing from the signal yards of all, and thick, black 
 smoke was belching from the funnels. It was 
 Cervera's fleet, and it was getting up steam, 
 u
 
 CHAPTER XLIY 
 
 NO mere shifting of berths required all that 
 smoke, and Dick knew it. It meant a full 
 head of steam, and this meant full speed. The 
 ships were going out to fight or run. Here 
 was his opportunity, and he was balked by the 
 tide. He pushed desperately, but the heavy 
 launch would not move, and in a state bordering 
 on insanity he paced up and down the beach, 
 until he realized that the presence of the launch in 
 the harbour was known, and that his white duck 
 suit made a conspicuous mark against the dull 
 green of the hill behind him. Then he hid in the 
 after cockpit and tried to compose his nerves by 
 grooming the engine. 
 
 An hour he waited, occasionally peeping out at 
 the squadron up the bay, wondering why he 
 was not sought for by the launches that had 
 chased him in. Then a slight tremor in the boat 
 aroused him to a second effort to launch her. 
 This time, with the help of the reversed engine, 
 he succeeded ; the craft backed and floated, but 
 before he could shift the helm to throw her 
 around he felt water on his feet and knew that 
 somewhere a gaping hole had escaped his notice. 
 
 290
 
 CIVILIZATION 291 
 
 The water came too fast for safety, and he saw, 
 by standing erect, that it came from underneath 
 the forward deck, probably on the starboard side 
 of the forefoot, where he had not been able to see 
 or feel. He reversed the engine, heeled the boat 
 to port as it grounded, and set desperately to 
 work. 
 
 He found the leak the largest hole of all a 
 whole plank end carried away. There was a small 
 saw in the locker, and with its help he robbed the 
 cockpit combing of a section, and with strenuous 
 effort digging a hole in the sand for room to 
 wield the hammer he covered the hole. But it 
 was a flat plank over a concave surface ; there 
 was caulking to be done, and over all was needed 
 a canvas patch to protect it from the wash. 
 "When the job was done, and he stood erect, 
 dripping wet and faint with hunger and fatigue, 
 the sun was high, and he saw the black ships 
 under way, just leaving their buoys. 
 
 His opportunity was being reduced to a matter 
 of effort expended and good intent ; yet this was 
 enough, could he but beat that squadron out to 
 sea and make his presence known. He sprang 
 aboard, backed the engine under a full head of 
 steam, and the boat pulled slowly off. No more 
 water came in. Steering by the tiller, he threw 
 her around and went ahead, rounding Caracoles 
 Point into the west channel past Smith Cay. He
 
 292 MASTERS OF MEN 
 
 chose this route because, though he risked possi 
 ble small-arm fire from the inshore side of Socapa 
 Battery up on the hill, he would avoid the atten 
 tion of the mounted guns of the Catalina Battery 
 on the east shore until he rounded Puntilla, nearly 
 abreast. Thankful for the good fortune that had 
 given him access to Breen's charts, he rushed the 
 little craft down the channel by memory of what 
 the charts had told him, turned east toward Pun 
 tilla, and had almost reached it, when a fusillade 
 began on the hilltop astern, and a shower of bul 
 lets spattered the water. Suddenly he felt a sting 
 ing pain in his left thigh, and an almost over 
 powering weakness came over him ; but, seated 
 on the engineer's stool, he managed to keep his 
 balance, and soon the shock of the impact left 
 him, though the stinging pain and the weakness 
 remained. 
 
 The fusillade continued, and out of the corner 
 of his eye he saw men from the Socapa Battery 
 running down the hill to intercept him when he 
 had rounded the point. Some paused to fire at 
 him, and some who remained behind worked at 
 machine guns, turning and training them on the 
 small gray floating hearse with its four dead and 
 its wounded driver. Soon these guns belched 
 their message, and larger shot peppered the water 
 around the launch. And Dick, steering wild, 
 barely able to keep his seat, totally unable to
 
 CIVILIZATION 293 
 
 feed his fire and replenish steam, yet heard dis 
 tinctly over the rattle of gun fire the sound of a 
 church bell behind him on Smith Cay, calling the 
 faithful few that had remained on the island to 
 Sunday morning worship. But down on the 
 wharf of the island men had collected with rifles, 
 and a bullet through his left arm told him that 
 Christian brotherhood was elastic. They were 
 trying to kill him these men of his faith ; and 
 when they had done so, they would probably heed 
 the bell. Seeing dimly, as though a fog had set 
 tled down on the water, he rounded the dock at 
 Caracoles Point, and headed south, immediately 
 receiving the greeting of the Catalina Battery. 
 No shells were sent, but solid shot, large and 
 small, crashed and whistled around his ears. Far 
 out to sea lay a high-bowed battleship the only 
 craft of the American fleet discernible between 
 the jaws of the channel mouth. He strained 
 his dimmed eyes in the effort to focus and iden 
 tify her, and barely knew the Iowa. She lay 
 bows on to him, silent and inert. His thoughts 
 were hardly coherent now, but with time he 
 would have prayed for interference from that 
 quiet, gray monster out there, one shell from 
 which could silence this venomous hail of lead 
 and steel. He turned, painfully, and looked back. 
 Around Smith Cay was coming the leading ship 
 of the Spanish fleet, a two-funnelled, two-masted,
 
 294 MASTERS OF MEN 
 
 ram-bowed cruiser, glistening black in the morn 
 ing sun. Among the battle flags aloft was the 
 flag of an admiral. She was piling up a bow 
 wave bigger than his small launch ; she would 
 beat him out, for he was not yet abreast of the 
 Estrella Battery. Over the steep slope of the 
 island he saw the spars of the second in line. 
 There would be an action in which he could 
 have no share. He would be shot to death before 
 it began. 
 
 But as he looked ahead, half blind in his weak 
 ness, and endeavoured to steady his craft to a 
 straighter course, he became aware that gun fire 
 had ceased. The Catalina Battery was silent, the 
 Estrella had not begun, the riflemen from the 
 Socapa Battery to starboard were leaning on 
 their grounded arms and watching him. At one 
 side stood a Spanish officer with drawn sword, 
 the point of which touched the ground. In his 
 left hand was his cap, which, as Dick looked, he 
 raised to a level with his face, and slowly lowered. 
 Dick's cap was gone, he knew not when or where, 
 but, wounded and weak, half-crazed from the or 
 deal, he yet recognized the chivalry of the act, 
 and responded by lowering his head. Then there 
 came to him a ringing hail in pure English : 
 " Proceed with your dead, American." 
 And the leaky launch, with its crippled helms 
 man and its cargo of corpses, passed slowly by
 
 " ' PROCEED WITH YOUR DEAD, AMERICAN.'
 
 CIVILIZATION 295 
 
 the Estrella Battery, whose gunners stood up and 
 waved their hands. What signal had flashed 
 back and forth across the channel can only be sur 
 mised. Possibly it concerned the shame of firing 
 on an ambulance ; it certainly had no bearing on 
 or reference to Dick's dwindling opportunity 
 the prompting spirit of that armistice could not 
 have guessed that this lunacy was born of a girl's 
 friendly phrasing of a compliment. 
 
 But neither signals nor soldierly ethics influ 
 enced the gunners of the Morro batteries at the 
 mouth of the harbour. They received the slowly 
 creeping, half-filled little craft with roaring pro 
 tests from heavy guns and a shower of projectiles, 
 large and small. The tiller was shot out of Dick's 
 hand, and the launch, a port-helmed craft, sheered 
 out in the channel ; a one-pound shot pierced the 
 boiler, and the pent-up steam escaped in a wheez 
 ing whistle ; a small shell exploded in the forward 
 cockpit, disturbing the dead and shattering the 
 bottom ; a fragment of steel ploughed through 
 Dick's already maimed left arm, and he sank in 
 a heap ; then, as the launch gently dived to the 
 bottom, he found himself immersed, partly revived 
 by the shock of cold water, weakly struggling 
 with his still uninjured right arm and leg to reach 
 the surface. Before he did so a huge black mass 
 struck him in the ribs, and in a rush of water he 
 slid up hung like a limp towel over a rack on
 
 296 MASTERS OF MEN 
 
 the slanting steel ram. of the outbound Spanish 
 flagship. 
 
 Clinging desperately to the sharp edge, chok 
 ing in the small Niagara piled up by the cruiser's 
 rush, he looked up at swarthy faces of men above. 
 They were sailors, and the fraternity of the sea 
 was in them. They slid down with ropes and 
 hauled him up ; then one, smiling like a mother, 
 forced a bottle to his lips and poured whiskey 
 down his throat. 
 
 " What you say, eh, sheepmate ? " he said jovially. 
 "What you call him Datch Careege? I once 
 sheep in Americano sheep. Adios, sheepmate." 
 
 An officer called, and the men went to their 
 stations as a gun spoke to seaward. Dick, lying 
 helpless on the deck, facing aft, warmed by the 
 stimulant to an interest in his surroundings, saw 
 the large Hontoria gun in the forward turret 
 swing slowly to port. Then it belched, and the 
 battle was on.
 
 CHAPTER XLY 
 
 HUNTING is an ancient institution ; it began 
 when the first monera found others in 
 their way. Man was a hunter when, more brute 
 than human, he fought his enemies with claws 
 and teeth. Then, with the development of his 
 prehensile thumb, he brought to his aid clubs 
 and stones. The club became a mace, later a 
 tomahawk of stone or iron, and for the speedier 
 propulsion of the stone was invented the sling. 
 The sling suggested the catapult and the bow ; 
 the edge of the tomahawk prompted the knife, 
 the spear, and the sword. Man now called him 
 self civilized, and with his civilization came a new 
 weapon brain. Then diplomacy and business 
 method came into vogue as potent weapons in 
 warfare. Then came gunpowder, and the hol 
 low tube to confine it and direct the projectile 
 driven by its expansion. 
 
 These were great inventions, superseding the 
 spear and the knife, the tomahawk and the bow, 
 leaving only the sword a cumbersome article of 
 dress. The hollow tube developed into the rapid- 
 fire rifle, the solid projectile into a shell. And to 
 aid this gun to fire its shell to best advantage, 
 
 297
 
 298 MASTERS OF MEN 
 
 science was cultivated, and the battleship the 
 culmination of every art, trade, and invention of 
 civilized man, was produced to carry the gun 
 which fired the shell. But through every change 
 of weapon and method, in battle or in business, 
 man, the hunter, has remained the same. Singly 
 or collectively, as family, tribe, or nation, he suc 
 ceeds and survives only by the destruction of his 
 enemies. He is still a hunter, and on this bright 
 Sunday morning, near the end of the nineteenth 
 century, Dick Halpin, wounded, faint, and dis 
 couraged, played a passive part in one of the 
 fiercest hunts that ever occurred on earth. Osten 
 sibly, it was a duel between the representatives 
 of two warring nations, in reality, a chase of 
 men by men, with victory for a prize, and with 
 the ethical considerations of honour, glory, and 
 patriotism but little in advance of the mercenary 
 consideration of bounty. And the weapons of the 
 hunters were the most deadly devised by inventive 
 genius, ranging from machine guns, capable of sixty 
 shots a minute, through the various grades of larger 
 calibers to turreted rifles which spoke only twelve 
 times an hour, but which sent pointed cylinders 
 of over half a ton's weight through foot-thick 
 steel walls to explode within. 
 
 Parched with thirst, and bleeding, his arm and 
 leg numb with pain, Dick Halpin lay under the 
 hot sun on the hotter deck, with two rills of pink-
 
 CIVILIZATION 299 
 
 ish water trickling from bis drenched clothing to 
 the scuppers, one to starboard, one to port, 
 and took such cognizance of the hunt as was in 
 his power. Facing aft, he saw officers on the 
 bridge paying him no attention whatever; later, 
 as the ship rang with the blows of projectiles, 
 they disappeared he knew not where. Shells 
 were crashing into the hull beneath him, coming 
 from ahead and to port, but he could not move to 
 look, nor did he care to. 
 
 Far back on the starboard quarter was being 
 enacted a scene of the terrible drama that would 
 have engaged a livelier attention than his. The 
 three following cruisers were drawing to port, 
 the leader just discernible past the forward tur 
 ret ; but the two torpedo boats which brought up 
 the rear had swerved inshore, as though to avoid 
 the fire from the American ships, and charging 
 across the wake of the parade was a clipper- 
 bowed converted yacht, almost hidden in the 
 smoke of her guns. She was hunting, and her 
 prey was the torpedo contingent. Spitting fire 
 and steel through the cloud of smoke which 
 almost enveloped her, the rattle of her guns 
 drowned in the nearer volume of sound, she 
 passed out of Dick's sight behind the turret and 
 superstructure, then emerged into view on the 
 starboard quarter. One torpedo boat turned 
 shoreward, steam and smoke oozing from her
 
 300 MASTERS OF MEN 
 
 riven hull, and a few minutes later seemed to melt 
 away in the surf of the beach ; the other kept on, 
 smoking like her sister, until a violent explosion 
 occurred amidships. She settled by the stern, 
 her bow lifted like the nose of a drowning dog, 
 then sank ; again it lifted, higher and higher, 
 until a third of the keel was exposed, and in a 
 cloud of steam she slid stern first to the bottom. 
 
 The flagship rang and crashed and roared with 
 the noise of shells received and sent. There was 
 not a man to be seen on her deck, but at certain 
 moments, at intervals between echoes of the last 
 and the deafening din of the next riot of sound, 
 Dick could hear fragmentary shrieks and howls 
 from the gun-deck beneath. Men were suffering 
 down there, and when a large shell entered the 
 bow, and marked its raking passage aft by trem 
 ors and convulsions in every plate, the humming 
 of human voices spoke more of agony than poor 
 Dick could comprehend at the time. Then came 
 a blinding flash of light at the gun-port of the 
 forward turret, and the ensuing thunderous roar 
 brought the horror of war still closer home to 
 him ; a shell had exploded within, and the belch 
 ing cloud of yellow smoke was streaked with dark 
 lines, fragments of something. 
 
 The gun was silent for a while, and in the lull 
 the ship swung seaward, offering to Dick's vision 
 the dark green background of the Cuban hills a
 
 CIVILIZATION 301 
 
 slight rest for his aching eyes. But there was no 
 rest for his ears nor his nerves ; the crashing of 
 shot and shell, and the chattering and roaring of 
 guns continued, and, in a fever of desperate curi 
 osity, he summoned strength and rolled on his 
 side, groaning with pain, but more content. He 
 could see the Iowa. She was storming along in 
 her smoke, tongues of flame piercing the fleecy 
 envelope, her superstructure a scintillating line of 
 sparkling red. The ship Burned back to her course 
 and soon the Texas came in sight, the ridiculed 
 Texas, " hoodoo " of the fleet, blazing away with 
 her sponson guns and keeping pace with the invin 
 cible Iowa. Then appeared the three-funnelled 
 Brooklyn, the racer, the happy compromise of 
 armour, guns, and coal supply. The rattle of her 
 powerful secondary battery rivalled the sound of 
 musketry, and was distinguishable, even at the 
 distance, above the storm of battle. "Wavering in 
 his glances, Dick looked for the New York, but 
 she was not in sight ; neither was the torpedo boat 
 to which he belonged, but apparently rising out of 
 the sea, between the Iowa and the Texas, appeared 
 the monster Oregon, the battleship which had 
 taken him north from Rio Janeiro. She flamed 
 with fire and hid behind her smoke, then emerged, 
 blazing ceaselessly and rushing on. Dick watched 
 her a few moments with darkening faculties, noted 
 the position of the second ship of the Spanish
 
 302 MASTERS OF MEN 
 
 squadron out to sea and of the third drawing 
 ahead of them all, then fainted from pain and 
 thirst and loss of blood. 
 
 Pain, that had helped deprive him of conscious 
 ness, brought it back. Pain that he had never 
 known before afflicted him ; he was writhing on a 
 hot deck, suffocating with smoke and the fumes 
 of burning woodwork. The engines had stopped, 
 and the only gun-fire to be heard was far away, 
 where the hunt was still on. Around him in the 
 smoke were men stricken like himself, and worse 
 men who had crawled up from the blast fur 
 nace buzzing and humming beneath the hot deck. 
 Some, groaning and wheezing as they crawled, 
 were moving slowly toward the rail, through 
 which a few succeeded in dropping. Others re 
 mained where the last weakness had overtaken 
 them. A momentary clearing of the smoke showed 
 to Dick the after part of the ship in flames, the 
 foremast gone, and in the fighting top on the 
 mainmast the body of a man leaning over as 
 though hailing the deck. There was a jarring 
 vibration in the hull and an occasional note in the 
 roar of flame that sounded like surf beating on 
 rocks. The ship was beached and deserted by all 
 able to move. 
 
 A hail rang out from overboard : " On deck, 
 there, ye poor divils. Can any o' yez take a line ? 
 Stand by."
 
 CIVILIZATION 303 
 
 A rope whirled snakelike high over the rail 
 and dropped, but there was none to take it; it 
 was withdrawn, and then it came again in the 
 form of a running bowline which settled over a 
 stanchion. It was tautened, and a man climbed 
 aboard a bare-waisted, bare-headed man with a 
 bearded red face. 
 
 " Oh, Mither o' Mercy, boys, what a sight ! " he 
 shouted in mournful tones. "Come up come 
 up, boys. There be some alive." 
 
 "Morrisey Morrisey," gasped Dick. "Here 
 give me a hand." 
 
 Morrisey sprang toward him and peered into 
 his face. 
 
 " Dick, be the powers ! " he shouted. " Bron- 
 son, below there. Here's Dick, fryin' in his own 
 juice. Oh, ye poor bye, and how come ye here 
 wi' the dagoes ? " 
 
 He lifted Dick in his arms and turned toward 
 the rail. Other men were swarming up, and the 
 leader, a giant of a man, took him from Morrisey. 
 Disdaining the slow descent by the rope, he 
 sprang with him into the sea ; for Dick's cloth 
 ing, dried by the heat, was in flames.
 
 CHAPTER XLVI 
 
 NEARLY four months after the sailing of the 
 Mary Earl, about the time that Dick and 
 Breen joined the fleet, the following appeared in 
 an issue of the Allville Evening Times : 
 
 " A little light is shed on the mysterious disappear 
 ance of Ensign Breen, United States navy, by the 
 story of Mayor Arthur, who, with his son and daughter, 
 was a guest of Mr. Breen aboard his ship on the after 
 noon of the day on which he disappeared. It seems 
 that the young ruffian Halpin, who instigated the 
 riot in our streets, is, or was, a member of the crew, 
 and was given shore leave on that afternoon. He ac 
 companied the party out of the navy yard, and car 
 ried Mr. Breeii's grip to the gate. Mr. Arthur observed 
 that they had words at the gate when Halpin surren 
 dered the grip, and that the sailor seemed in a rage. 
 Later, at the New York terminal of the Brooklyn Bridge, 
 Mr. Breen requested the mayor to take his grip to the 
 Grand Central Station, and started in pursuit of Hal- 
 pin up Park Row. It is known that Mr. Breen has 
 never called for his grip, and as war is on, it is more 
 than likely that he would have reported for duty if 
 alive. The scoundrelly Halpin has not since been 
 seen. x What tale of foul play and murder will come 
 to light when he is caught can only be surmised." 
 
 Miss Bessie Fleming read this with dilated eyes 
 304
 
 CIVILIZATION 305 
 
 at the supper table. The meal being over, she 
 took the paper to her room and read it again, then 
 sat thinking for a full quarter of an hour. She 
 sat where her face was reflected back to her from 
 a large mirror, and a passing abstracted glance 
 showed her its tense expression. She arose and 
 inspected herself at full length. Though never 
 careless of her dress, and most certainly arrayed 
 as a young lady might be in her own home, yet 
 her eye caught little details which betrayed the/ 
 indifference which had come to her regarding her 
 appearance. Her face was pale now, very pale, 
 and there was a worn look in it a slight droop 
 ing at the corners of her mouth which, at her 
 age, could easily become fixed. Her whole ap 
 pearance indicated pain, incessant and torment 
 ing. 
 
 But as she looked a light came to her eyes and 
 a faint tinge to her cheeks ; her breath came 
 faster, and the lines about her mouth hardened a 
 little, then sweetened to a smile a bitter smile, 
 to be sure, but a smile, an improvement in the 
 pathetic face. She went to a closet and brought 
 forth gowns and garments, hats, boots, and belts. 
 From boxes and receptacles came gloves, ribbons, 
 and handkerchiefs. She laid out the exhibit a 
 wealth of splendour which a woman might imagine, 
 but no man describe and stood off to choose. 
 An hour later, equipped for battle, she went forth,
 
 306 MASTERS OF MEN 
 
 rang the bell of a large brick house around the cor 
 ner, and sent up her card to Miss Mabel Arthur. 
 
 She was a symphony in colour, and even harmo 
 nized with the fittings of the parlour. 
 
 But another harmony came down to meet her 
 
 a creature fluffily gowned in tulle but little 
 darker than her crown of coiled hair, with but two 
 relieving flecks of red a ribbon at her throat, a 
 flower in her belt with colour in her lips and 
 cheeks that rivalled the red, with a diamond on 
 her finger no brighter than the sparkle in her 
 eyes. The two poems took momentary measure 
 ments, then Mabel advanced with a smile. 
 
 " Why, Bessie," she exclaimed, as their lips met, 
 "where have you been? It's an age since I've 
 seen you. You look lovely really you do." She 
 caressed Bessie's shirt waist a fluffy thing of silk 
 
 and led her to the sofa. " Take your things 
 off, dear. It's so long since you've called. Give 
 me your hat and your wrap." 
 
 " No really, Mabel, I can't stay. I must re 
 turn soon. I didn't tell mother I was going out, 
 you see." 
 
 " Must you ? "What a pity ! But tell me, 
 Bessie " and again she fondled the silk creation 
 
 " where did you get it ? In New York ? It is 
 simply beautiful." 
 
 "No," answered Bessie, deprecatingly, for 
 Mabel's equipment shed the flavour of duties paid,
 
 CIVILIZATION 307 
 
 " it was made at home. I trust a good deal, you 
 know, to Anna's taste and to mother's." 
 
 " But it is lovely, and your hat, too. How do 
 you manage ? " 
 
 Then followed a twenty-minute discussion of 
 things feminine which have no place in this story. 
 At the end of it, Bessie, with the sweetest smile 
 she could assume, which hardly hid the tighten 
 ing of her lips, said, 
 
 " By the way, Mabel, did you read what the 
 paper said to-night ? " 
 
 " Yes part of it. "Why do you ask ? " 
 
 "About Mr. Breen's disappearance? Did you 
 read that?" 
 
 " Oh, yes. They seem to think that he has been 
 murdered. "Who would have thought it of Dick ; 
 and we had been so interested in him." 
 
 " But, Mabel " and Bessie almost gasped it 
 " you don't think so, do you ? You don't think 
 that Dick would kill him? Why, he couldn't. 
 Dick Halpin. He couldn't. You know he couldn't. 
 I will never believe it." 
 
 " I really do not know," replied Mabel, twirling 
 her diamond, " what Dick could or could not do. 
 He seems to have a very violent temper. The 
 paper calls him a ruffian and a scoundrel. Ruffi 
 ans and scoundrels sometimes commit murder." 
 
 " And don't you care ? " Bessie stood up. " Don't 
 you care anything about it ? Dick Halpin, whom
 
 308 MASTERS OF MEN 
 
 you have talked about for years, is charged with 
 murder. You were there on that day you saw 
 him you must have seen him you must know 
 what the quarrel was about. Why did he follow 
 him? You know, Mabel. "Why did Mr. Breen 
 follow him to his death ? " 
 
 Mabel still twirled the diamond while she 
 looked up at the agitated Bessie, now pacing 
 about in short, hurried turns. 
 
 " I am not concerned, Bessie," she answered 
 slowly, " about this aspect of the case, because I 
 happen to know that Dick Hal pin did not kill Mr. 
 Breen." 
 
 "No? he did not? Then where is he? What 
 has happened ? Is he alive ? " 
 
 Bessie paused in her walk, and stood over Mabel 
 with eyes wide open, and hands tightly clenched. 
 " Tell me," she added, and there was almost a 
 threat in the command. 
 
 " Yes," replied Mabel, impassively, " he is alive 
 and" she pressed her diamond to her lips "I 
 should think very happy to be alive." 
 
 " Where, Mabel ? Where is he ? " Bessie leaned 
 over her. 
 
 " Which one do you mean ? " asked Mabel. 
 " Both are alive, and one is happy that is, if I 
 may judge by the letter I received this morning." 
 
 " A letter ? Oh yes a letter to you 
 Bessie stood erect. " I understand, of course. He
 
 CIVILIZATION 309 
 
 is alive, and writes to you. I really beg your 
 pardon I did not think." She went to the mir 
 ror, and though her hat was symmetrically true 
 in adjustment, she gave it a few spasmodic pats ; 
 then she turned and advanced toward Mabel, who 
 had arisen. 
 
 "He was mine, Mabel," said Bessie, as she 
 paused in the centre of the room. " Mine mine 
 he never told me, but I knew I was to wait 
 for him. And you took him away. He left me 
 to go to you. Some day he will leave you to go 
 to another, and then you will know what I 
 know now." She reeled a little, but recovered. 
 " Good-by, Mabel," she added, and turned toward 
 the door. 
 
 Before she reached it Mabel had caught her. 
 She enfolded her in her arms and pressed her lips 
 to the pale cheek. 
 
 " Bessie, you poor girl," she said gently, " come 
 back. You don't understand. He is nothing to 
 me but a good friend. Come back and sit down 
 and talk. Let's talk about it, dear. Come back 
 to the sofa." 
 
 It was some minutes before Bessie's sobs would 
 permit her to listen, and then Mabel, with her 
 arms about her, told her of a letter from Mr. 
 Breen mailed at Jupiter Inlet. He and Halpin 
 had been taken forcibly to sea in a merchant 
 ship, it said ; they had become good friends, and
 
 310 MASTERS OF MEN 
 
 had left the ship at Rio Janeiro just in time to 
 join the Oregon going north. 
 
 " I'll get the letter before you go, Bessie," said 
 Mabel, " and we'll read it together. He wrote to 
 me, I suppose, because he knew I should be glad 
 to hear from him. But you will see, Bessie, just 
 what my position is. Why, he began the letter 
 with, ' Dear Miss Arthur.' That is not lover- 
 like." 
 
 " But the ring ? " murmured Bessie, her head 
 on Mabel's shoulder. " You told me." 
 
 " I did not. You told yourself ; I merely allowed 
 you to. I was hateful, I know awfully hateful, 
 but it was on account of Dick." 
 
 " Then, Mabel," said Bessie, as she straightened 
 up, " you do love Dick Halpin." 
 
 " I do not. I am not acquainted with him. I 
 have had but two conversations with him in my life. 
 I love an ideal, and of all the men I have met Dick 
 comes the nearest to filling it. He may not prove 
 himself he may turn out just as the papers de 
 scribe him, a rowdy and a ruffian I do not know. 
 But, if he is a gentleman, I know that he is 
 brave and manly, if he is of good instincts, hon 
 est, and clean-minded ; if he is of my class, don't 
 you see, I think I do not know. And that is 
 all, Bessie. It began with his red hair. Ever 
 since I have been able to see I have worshipped 
 red hair. I do not know why, but I had to yield
 
 CIVILIZATION 311 
 
 to it. Dick was my ideal boy, and I held to him 
 during his absence while his hair became auburn ; 
 but the habit is fixed. I shall be dreadfully disap 
 pointed if he does not succeed in life and come 
 back to me." 
 
 " But the ring, Mabel," persisted Bessie. 
 
 " A birthday gift from papa, you goosie. Mr. 
 Breen selected it and sent it with the bill." 
 
 "It wasn't kind of you, Mabel. I should not 
 have treated you so. Why did you let me think 
 it was an engagement ring ? " 
 
 "Because, as I said, I felt utterly hateful. 
 You had deceived me all along. You were in 
 communication with Dick with my ideal all 
 the time, and you never told me." 
 
 " Why, Mabel." 
 
 " You were, Bessie. You told me that day 
 that day before Dick came home, you know 
 that you expected company and could not come 
 over. And then, when Mr. Breen called next 
 day he said that he had been at your house first, 
 and found Dick there. 
 
 "But Dick called by accident I did not 
 expect him; I had not seen him since he went 
 away, and hardly knew him. Why, Mabel, how 
 unjust you have been ! I did expect company, 
 but it was Mr. Breen." 
 
 Mabel's eyes opened a little wider, and her lips 
 parted ; then they closed.
 
 312 MASTERS OF MEN 
 
 " But why, Bessie," she said, after a moment's 
 silence, "did not Mr. Breen stay at your house 
 if he was expected? An invited guest does not 
 hurry away. And he told me nothing about his 
 being expected at your house. I did not know 
 that he ever called on you." 
 
 Bessie's face flushed as red as the ribbon at 
 Mabel's throat. She looked down and around 
 the room then squarely at Mabel. 
 
 "I I do not know," she said at last. 
 
 " Was it," asked Mabel, gently, " because he 
 found a sailor of his own ship there? You 
 know the class distinctions in the navy." 
 
 Had Bessie agreed to this, tranquillity and con 
 fidence might have been restored at once; but, 
 hesitating a moment, she said, " Not that, 
 exactly." 
 
 " Then, why, Bessie, if Mr. Breen was the 
 expected company, did he go away ? " 
 
 "Because," said Bessie, her face aflame, 
 and desperately anxious, possibly, to prove her 
 case, " he came just as Dick was going, and 
 and just in time to see to see him kiss me. 
 And he wouldn't stay. He turned and 
 went right away from me, and I have haven't 
 se-seen him since." 
 
 And then she began crying, while Mabel 
 straightened to full height and uttered the one 
 word, "What!"
 
 CIVILIZATION 313 
 
 She walked the full length of the room and 
 back again. 
 
 " He kissed you," she repeated ; then, as Bessie 
 dried her eyes and looked, she turned, without 
 waiting for an answer, and walked again to the 
 end of the room. Here she remained for a 
 moment, while Bessie's pathetic face took on 
 an expression of demure resignation. Mabel 
 returned. 
 
 "Bessie," she said, while her fingers worked 
 nervously, " is this really so ? Did he kiss 
 you?" 
 
 "Yes, he did," murmured Bessie, shamelessly. 
 "He kissed me hard." She would have been 
 less than a woman had she been able to forego 
 this one moment of triumph this one dash of 
 vengeance and reprisal on the one who had so 
 mercilessly wounded her even at the cost of 
 so shameful an admission. 
 
 " And you let him ? " said Mabel. " You let 
 him kiss you ? " 
 
 This brought the matter nearer home; and 
 Bessie, as a properly conducted young lady 
 should, arose in her own defence. 
 
 " I could not help it, Mabel," she said ear 
 nestly. "I didn't think he was no longer the 
 Dick I knew and when he was going I and 
 then the outer door opened, and Mr. Breen saw 
 it."
 
 314 MASTERS OF MEN 
 
 Mabel seated herself in a low reclining chair, 
 threw herself back at full length, and with fingers 
 tapping the arms of the chair stared at the ceil 
 ing for a full five minutes, while Bessie waited 
 patiently. Then Mabel sat up. 
 
 " What a fool I am ! " she said at length, with 
 a toss of the head. " He is a man among men. 
 They are all alike, and he kisses every cook or 
 waitress that he meets alone." 
 
 " Oh," shuddered Bessie, " I hope not." 
 
 " It isn't worth while, Bessie. We mustn't let 
 it come between us again. It is not my business 
 whom he kisses until unless " She flushed 
 slightly " After that I will take care of 
 him." 
 
 " But, Mabel, do you think " and the question 
 was born of the deepest malice of which Bessie 
 was capable " do you think that Dick will ever 
 try?" 
 
 Mabel waited a moment while she soberly 
 studied the carpet. 
 
 " Women can always be sure of some things, 
 Bessie," she said slowly. " I looked into his soul 
 that day on the ship when he stood in line with 
 others, waiting to be counted. He may never 
 come back to me he may be a brute and a 
 scoundrel whom I would not tolerate, though 
 from the description in Mr. Breen's letter I should 
 think he is not but, Bessie, I saw I know
 
 CIVILIZATION 315 
 
 that I am to him what he is to me. "Wait, and I 
 will get that letter." 
 
 They read it together, with arms about each 
 other. It was, as Mabel had said, a letter couched 
 in terms of friendship, containing news of the 
 voyage in the merchant ship and some wonder 
 ful praise of Dick Halpin, but no word of 
 Bessie. 
 
 " Will you answer it, Mabel ? " she asked, as the 
 letter was folded. 
 
 " Of course," said Mabel, and her lips set firmly. 
 " I shall write and give my opinion of a man who 
 can treat you so. I shall scold him as he never 
 was scolded before." 
 
 Bessie rose to her feet in all the dignity of a 
 woman sure of her position. 
 
 "Mabel, you must not," she declared vehe 
 mently; "you must not mention my name to 
 him. I forbid it. He condemned me unheard, 
 and went away. Now let him come back 
 when he is ready." There were tears in her 
 eyes again. 
 
 Mabel smiled, and drew her back to the couch. 
 
 " Well, dear, I won't, then," she said ; " I'll do 
 better. I'll tell him that his rival is wealthy ; 
 that the sailor boy who comes home and kisses 
 his darling is heir to a fortune, and is sure to come 
 home again. Perhaps he will kiss her again." 
 
 "He won't," stormed Bessie. "And don't you
 
 316 MASTERS OF MEN 
 
 mention that kissing, Mabel ; don't you dare. 
 He'll only think I'm talking about him, and I'm 
 not he don't deserve " 
 
 And Mabel promised, and kissed her herself into 
 peace and tranquillity and hope.
 
 CHAPTER XLVII 
 
 A FEW days after Bessie casually glanced 
 over a back number of the Evening Times, 
 which she had neglected reading when issued. It 
 contained the account of the delayed commence 
 ment exercises of the graduating class of the 
 High School. Prominent in the account was an 
 abstract of an essay written and read by Mr. 
 Edward Brown on " Journalism as a Profession." 
 The prominence given to this part of the pro 
 gramme came of the fact, of which Bessie was 
 aware, that Ned Brown's father was the editor of 
 the paper. Certain peculiarities of style induced 
 her to hunt for and re-read the editorial which had 
 prompted her visit to Mabel the same peculiarities 
 of style were apparent in both. At the newspaper 
 office, she searched the files and found the account 
 of the riot in which Dick Halpin was called a 
 thief. There were the same touches of phrasing 
 and punctuation obviously the three articles were 
 written by the same hand. Buying a copy, .she 
 took it home, and with scissors and mucilage pre 
 pared an exhibit of the three cuttings, then 
 bided her time. 
 
 It came a few evenings later when she ushered 
 317
 
 318 MASTERS OF MEN 
 
 into her small parlour a caller, a tall, well-dressed 
 young man with a budding mustache, and hair 
 symmetrically divided into fluffy halves. Her 
 greeting was formal, almost frigid, but the young 
 man's smiling self-assurance suffered no shock 
 until he had turned around once or twice and 
 seated himself in the best chair ; then he noticed 
 the calm, cold disapproval in Bessie's blue eyes 
 and arose to his feet. His hostess had remained 
 standing, fingering a scrap-book on the table. 
 
 "Why, Bessie," he said, "what's up? Lost 
 your mother, or " 
 
 "No, Mr. Brown," she interrupted incisively, 
 "mother is well." 
 
 " But why, Bessie Mr. Brown ? It used to 
 be plain Ned." 
 
 " I have but lately read your essay on ' Journal 
 ism,' Mr. Brown" she emphasized the prefix 
 " and feel much impressed. I could not presume 
 to such familiarity as to call you Ned after read 
 ing it. Keally, I did not dream that you wrote 
 so well." 
 
 " Is that so, honest, now ? " he answered delight 
 edly. " Well, now, I'm glad you liked it. I'm 
 going in for it, you know, with father." 
 
 " So I surmised. I cut it out and put it in my 
 scrap-book, it was so good," she purred. "And 
 here is something else that I'm sure is yours. 
 Why, no one else could write so nicely."
 
 CIVILIZATION 319 
 
 She opened the book, and he approached her 
 side, a little soberly, for the sarcasm in her voice 
 was becoming apparent. She pointed to a clip 
 ping the one containing speculations as to 
 Breen's murder. 
 
 " You wrote that, too, Mr. Brown, did you 
 not ? '' demanded Bessie. 
 
 " Oh that, yes, I wrote it. The governor lets 
 me write an editorial now and then, you know. 
 I expect before long to have full charge of that 
 page." 
 
 " And do you think," said Bessie, sternly, " that 
 Dick Halpin, the boy you knew at school, would 
 murder any one ? " 
 
 " Why why, Bessie why not ? He's a low 
 ruffian a rowdy " 
 
 " He is not," snapped Bessie. " He is a gentle 
 man past your comprehension, Ned Brown. Why 
 do you hate him so ? Has he ever harmed you ? 
 Did he harm you that day he came home ? If I 
 am rightly informed, you were the only one of 
 that cowardly band that escaped." 
 
 " He couldn't catch me," answered Ned, vaguely, 
 stupidly, but somewhat proudly. 
 
 " So I heard. I heard you described as a young 
 man who could not fight very well, but could run 
 like sixty." 
 
 " Now, Bessie," protested Ned, " this isn't fair. 
 I'm no tough scrapper with my fists, if he is "
 
 320 MASTERS OF MEN 
 
 " But you are moderately proficient with your 
 feet, Mr. Brown ; you can kick a small boy when 
 you have others to assist you. Please do not call 
 him names in my presence. Here is something 
 else that you wrote." 
 
 She showed him the account of the riot. Ned 
 said nothing, but looked troubled. 
 
 "You wrote that falsehood, wilfully, Mr. 
 Brown. You know, and you knew then, that 
 Dick Halpin was innocent of that charge. You 
 knew that he never wore the name of thief but 
 one week, for he was cleared by the confession of 
 the real culprit." 
 
 " But really I'd forgotten, Bessie ; I really 
 had forgotten " 
 
 "You did not forget ; but you supposed him ut 
 terly friendless in this town, and you made a mis 
 take. Do you care for my future acquaintance ? " 
 
 " Of course, Bessie, of course I do. Haven't I 
 been coming to see " 
 
 " Then you will rescind in your father's paper 
 every slander against Dick Halpin you have 
 uttered." 
 
 " How can I ? Father is supposed to edit the 
 page. He won't reverse himself just for me. 
 Besides, George Arthur is a gentleman and an 
 officer of the navy. It won't do 
 
 " It will do ; but you need not mention George 
 Arthur. On his sister's account alone I would not
 
 CIVILIZATION 321 
 
 have you mention him ; but you will retract your 
 words in regard to Dick Halpin my friend from 
 the first, understand or I will never speak to 
 you again." 
 
 Bessie moved toward the door and turned to 
 face him. Ned followed and passed her, halting 
 as he took his hat from the rack in the hall. 
 
 "I've got to do it, I suppose, somehow," he 
 said painfully ; " but it's like pulling teeth, and 
 father" 
 
 She had turned away from him. 
 
 Ned passed out, and Bessie collapsed in tears. 
 She was not a natural diplomat, and the ordeal 
 had taxed her nerves. But she said nothing to 
 Mabel about a problem affecting the good name 
 of her brother, even though their renewed friend 
 ship reached a confidence and an intimacy which it 
 had never known before. And soon, this friend 
 ship was tested by a strain that roused to its ful 
 ness all the latent womanhood of her immature 
 nature at a time when the country rang with 
 gladness over the destruction of Cervera's fleet, 
 and a sister alternatively raved and moaned over 
 the loss of a brother. It was Bessie, the affec 
 tionate and dependent, who knew how to comfort 
 and subdue the frantic Mabel ; and perhaps not 
 the least of the anodynes for this awful grief of 
 twin for twin was her oft-repeated formula, 
 
 " Dick was saved ; he'll come back." 
 
 Y
 
 322 MASTERS OF MEN 
 
 Either the beneficent effect of the formula or 
 youth and good health sufficed to bring to Mabel, 
 as the weeks passed, composure of mind and self- 
 control sufficient for the small orderings of her 
 daily life ; she received and read her own letters. 
 One, from Breen, written at Key West, and dated 
 August 5, began with condolences, which no matter 
 how heartfelt the sympathy of friend for friend, 
 can only be expressed in a few stultified phrases of 
 hackneyed English ; then followed more business 
 like news, derived at first hand from the wrecking 
 party that had raised the sunken steam launch in 
 the Santiago channel, to the effect that the tide 
 had washed all the bodies away, and that the 
 chances were against their being recovered ; then 
 the writer, drifting into the slap-dash style of a 
 man writing hurriedly in the midst of duties, had 
 this to say : 
 
 "I have spent an hour with Dick Halpin at the 
 hospital ashore here ; he is doing well, considering 
 that he was shot full of holes, half-drowned, rammed 
 by a big, fast cruiser, and then nearly roasted alive 
 in the langxiage of Seaman Morrisey, who rescued him 
 Morrisey, of your town, who kept the hotel 
 know him ? Morrisey said to me at Guantanamo that 
 ' Dick wuz a-cookin' all right, but there bein' no one 
 there to turn him an' baste him proper-like, he got 
 scorched on one side.' Dick will pull through with 
 out doubt, but he is, mentally, in a bad way. He 
 thinks that if he had asserted himself think of it,
 
 CIVILIZATION 323 
 
 a seaman against an officer that he might have pre 
 vented your brother from going into the harbour. As 
 a properly educated and superior-minded graduate 
 of Annapolis should do, I took that conceit out of 
 him; but there remains to him this that your 
 brother's death furnished him with his opportunity 
 which has resulted in a type-written letter from a cer 
 tain high official at Washington, and he keeps it under 
 his pillow, taking it out to read occasionally, and 
 you cannot imagine what this letter means to a blue 
 jacket of the navy, but over it all is his accusing 
 conscience, that, to get this letter, he allowed your 
 brother to die. In fact, he did not ; he would have 
 been open to court-martial and disgrace had he inter 
 fered as he thinks he should; but of this I cannot 
 wholly convince him ; it is for you to help me when 
 you see him. Your admonition to come home an 
 officer had a strong influence on Dick's action that 
 morning, and his dare-devil attempt to run four bat 
 teries in broad daylight, and certain admissions which 
 he has unconsciously let slip, prove to me well, I 
 am saying too much. Will you please say to Miss 
 Fleming, when you see her, that I have learned that 
 Dick had not been home since he left four years ago 
 until this summer ? It is very likely that Dick and 
 I will come home together, as the war will surely end 
 soon, and he is almost able to travel, and I, on detached 
 duty, can easily obtain leave." 
 
 Mabel read the letter to Bessie, then said : 
 " Father will invite them here, for he was with 
 George when he died. Shall you be here when 
 they come, Bessie ? "
 
 324 MASTERS OF MEN 
 
 Bessie shivered, flushed, and steadied her 
 self. 
 
 " No, Mabel, he will bring Dick home, of course, 
 and he will come to you first. But I shall be 
 in my own home."
 
 CHAPTER XLYIII 
 
 THREE weeks later Breen and Dick boarded 
 an afternoon train at the Grand Central Sta 
 tion in New York. Both were in the undress uni 
 form of commissioned naval officers; but, even 
 aside from this change, few of Dick's old mess 
 mates would have recognized him. His eyes held 
 the soft light, and his features the super-refinement 
 which always comes of extreme physical suffering. 
 He was paler than usual, and a master of the 
 " dapper art " had reduced his wavy hair to fash 
 ionable length and contour, and a sick-bed growth 
 on his erstwhile smooth face to a compact and 
 becoming mustache. It was Breen who had 
 groomed him Breen who had captiously criti 
 cised the tailor's work to the last wrinkle and 
 misplaced line of stitching, who had accompanied 
 him to the navy yard for his pay and honourable 
 discharge as seaman apprentice, and while there 
 made much of him to officers, old and young 
 gentlemen all, who cordially welcomed him as one 
 of themselves and candidly envied him his record. 
 Then he had engineered him to the station to 
 accept Mr. Arthur's invitation to visit his home. 
 " It's too cheap," Dick protested, as they took 
 
 325
 
 326 MASTERS OF MEN 
 
 seats, " this jumping into uniform at the first 
 chance." 
 
 " You were told to come home an officer," said 
 Breen, firmly, " and you're going to do it. It is 
 my part to see that you do." 
 
 " But do you think it's all right in your case 
 but in mine, won't she won't Miss Arthur see 
 through the sham ? Will she think any better of 
 me for this dressing to a part ? " 
 
 " You are an acting ensign of the United 
 States navy," answered Breen, thumping his knee 
 with his fist. "You are on sick leave under 
 orders from the Secretary of the Navy to report, 
 when well, to Annapolis for special instruction. 
 "What more do you want, Dick ? " 
 
 " You see," went on Dick, " I've always looked 
 up to her, and " 
 
 "Out with it. I gathered by your half-crazy 
 talk at Key West that you loved her." 
 
 " Well yes," said Dick, defiantly. " I never 
 could help it, although I haven't met her but twice 
 in my life. But I can keep my place, I promise 
 you, and when you're married " 
 
 " When who's married ? " 
 
 " You and Miss Arthur ; when " 
 
 " She and I will never be married if I can help 
 it. What put that into your head ? She never 
 allowed me to get fond of her." 
 
 " Why, aren't you ? " gasped Dick, leaning back
 
 CIVILIZATION 327 
 
 against the cushion. He was still weak from sick 
 ness and vulnerable to shock. " I was told so 
 Miss Fleming " He stopped, not knowing how 
 far he might be violating a confidence. 
 
 " Bessie told you ? What game is she playing, 
 anyhow," said Breen, with a puzzled face. " Well, 
 no matter. I'll know before long ; but tell me, 
 Dick," he added earnestly, "is there, or rather 
 was there, anything between you and Bessie ? " 
 
 " Nothing but what you saw," said Dick, dimly 
 beginning to realize the truth. " I hadn't seen 
 her since leaving school we were chums then 
 and I called to get news of the gang I was after ; 
 then, as I was about to leave, I obeyed an 
 impulse." 
 
 "And so did I," said Breen, musingly. "I've 
 been a jealous fool. How did she take it if it's 
 a fair question ? " 
 
 " She put me out," answered Dick, gloomily ; 
 " hated me I was never to speak to her again. 
 And she wrote her further opinion of me to the 
 Yermont" 
 
 " Did she ? " laughed Breen. " Bless her and 
 sent the letter in my care, and made matters 
 worse. She must have known that I'd recognize 
 her handwriting. I thought you were in close 
 correspondence, and that it was a delicate hint for 
 me to step down and out." 
 
 " No ; I never got such a roasting in my life ;
 
 328 MASTERS OF MEN 
 
 and she even enclosed a clipping from the paper 
 calling me all sorts of hard names. It was in 
 that letter that she told of your engagement to 
 Miss Arthur. "Why, she spoke of the engagement 
 ring a diamond." 
 
 " A diamond ? Yes, I selected one for her and 
 sent it from New York ; but her father paid for 
 it." 
 
 " It was easy for me to believe it," said 
 Dick. " She had teased me about you in the 
 house, and after my eviction I followed you to the 
 corner and saw you call at the Arthurs'." 
 
 "There's something funny behind all this, 
 Dick," said Breen, after a moment's thought. " It 
 was Miss Arthur herself who clinched my suspi 
 cions concerning you and Bessie. I understand 
 now what ailed you in the navy yard, but 
 thought you were an all-round crank, sore at me 
 for catching you kissing your best girl. Dick, 
 we've done well. In spite of this mutual distrust 
 and jealousy, we've managed to become good 
 friends. Let it go at that for the present." 
 
 " I've a hazy remembrance, or it may be that 
 I dreamed it, that you began something about this 
 matter in that back room where we were drugged. 
 But I cannot recollect just what it was." 
 
 " I can," said Breen, decidedly, " every word of 
 it ; but there's no occasion to repeat it now. "We 
 are too close to the climax. I wonder," he added
 
 CIVILIZATION 329 
 
 softly and slowly, as he leaned back and closed 
 his eyes, " what my reception will be. There are 
 degrees of asininity ; where do I stand ? " 
 
 Dick could not tell him, and was satisfied with 
 silence and the music of his own thoughts, until 
 the train reached Allville. 
 
 Mabel's father, sad-faced but genial, met them 
 on the platform. 
 
 " I received your telegram," he said, as he shook 
 hands with Breen, "and hurried over to meet 
 you; but I have only a few minutes, board 
 meeting, you see, and I am wanted, and this is 
 Mr. Halpin," he added, offering Dick his hand. 
 " I recognize you as the sailor who revolution 
 ized our town government this, in fact, is the 
 business before the board. I congratulate you, 
 young man, on your promotion. You were with 
 my son when he died, I hear " the old gentle 
 man's voice quavered a little "and when we 
 have time you must tell me how he died." 
 
 " I can tell you now, Mr. Arthur," said Dick, 
 gravely and earnestly; "he died like a man 
 a brave man." 
 
 " I am glad to hear that but you must tell 
 me all. Meanwhile, both of you, consider my 
 house your home while you are here. Mabel is 
 expecting you. I cannot be at dinner, I fear; 
 but you will go at once to the house, will you 
 not?"
 
 330 MASTERS OP MEN 
 
 " Thank you, no, Mr. Arthur," answered Breen. 
 " "We'll call in the evening. We're a little travel- 
 stained at present." 
 
 " "Well, I'm off. I will see you in the evening." 
 
 They went to the Hotel Morrisey, still wearing 
 its large sign, though the versatile Morrisey was 
 replaced by a stranger. 
 
 "Did I tell you," asked Dick, as they seated 
 themselves in the dining room, " that Morrisey 
 and Bronson came to see me in the hospital? 
 Morrisey lost his license on account of the trouble, 
 but he still owns this place. The plan is for Bron 
 son to take out the license when their time is out, 
 and settle down as Morrisey's partner." 
 
 " Good wind-up for an old sailor," remarked 
 Breen, as he reached for the bill of fare. " Hello, 
 what's the matter with him ? " 
 
 A young man had hurriedly entered the dining 
 room, but, on seeing the two officers at the table, 
 had turned, and as hurriedly bolted from the 
 room. 
 
 "It's Ned Brown," said Dick, with a laugh, 
 " the only one of the crowd that I missed that 
 day. Perhaps he feared his turn had come." 
 
 They caught a momentary glimpse of Ned 
 through the open door, negotiating with a news 
 boy; then he disappeared from sight, and the 
 boy, hat in hand, entered the dining room and 
 advanced toward them.
 
 CIVILIZATION 331 
 
 " Mr. Brown's compliments, sir, to Mr. Halpin," 
 he said, and laid a paper before them. Then he 
 vanished, while Dick glanced through the paper. 
 
 " Things certainly are coming my way," he said 
 at last. He handed the paper to Breen, with his 
 finger marking a column. " Read it aloud. I 
 only read part." Breen read the following: 
 
 " Through misapprehension and misinformation on 
 our part, we have in these columns made certain dis 
 paraging comments on Richard Halpin, formerly a 
 native of Allville, and who, as most of our readers will 
 remember, returned lately and served out some poetic 
 justice to certain enemies of his schooldays. Among 
 the comments we made at the time, and which we take 
 pleasure in retracting, was one concerning his honesty, 
 wherein we erroneously charged him with being ex 
 pelled from school for stealing. As we learn, such a 
 charge was made, but we are aware now that Mr. Hal- 
 pin was clearly and honourably cleared of the stigma 
 at the time it happened. Mr. Halpin has acquitted 
 himself with great credit to himself as a sailor in the 
 navy during the late war, having won his spurs, or 
 rather his epaulettes, by cool-headed daring during the 
 blockade of Santiago. Mr. Halpin is shortly expected 
 to visit Allville, where, we are informed, a large prop 
 erty awaits him. It is hoped that he will continue to 
 make Allville his home." 
 
 " And not a word about the man that stopped the 
 riot and saved all their blooming lives," remarked 
 Breen, with a grimly humorous frown. " They'll
 
 332 MASTERS OF MEN 
 
 make a hero of you, Dick, if you allow it. They'll 
 give you a sword and gold epaulettes and 
 make speeches over you ; and you'll have to re 
 spond, and say how your heart always warmed to 
 your old home." 
 
 " Not much," shivered Dick. " Not while I can 
 run. Still it is good to read such things about 
 yourself when you've felt for years that every one 
 thought the reverse of }'ou. Look ! We're holding 
 a levee look at them ! " 
 
 A shifting, shuffling crowd of men and boys 
 passed back and forth before the door and win 
 dows, peeping in as they passed. Another crowd 
 was gathering in the office, respectfully inspecting 
 the two as they ate. From this crowd came 
 a man through the door a sun-burned man 
 carrying a horse-whip. 
 
 " And this is Dick," he said boisterously, as he 
 reached out his hand. " Ned's lad Dick. Oh, 
 we've kept track o' you, lad, out on the farm. I'm 
 not goin' to stay and disturb you now, only I've 
 just got to stop and shake hands and clap you on 
 the back. Bully for you, Dick ; and say, just con 
 sider to my credit, won't you, that if I'd given 
 you a job on my farm, you wouldn't be here now, 
 would you?" He brought his open hand down 
 on Dick's shoulders with force that hurt, and was 
 gone. 
 
 " Mr. Bronson," said Dick, in answer to Breen's
 
 CIVILIZATION 333 
 
 inquiring glance. "First man I asked for work. 
 And here's Mr. Clark." He rose to his feet. 
 
 " I've just a minute, Richard," said the school 
 master, approaching from the street door ; " just 
 a minute in which to congratulate you. Mr. 
 Arthur has just informed me of your arrival. 
 There is no success like success, Richard, is there ? 
 Really, I think I can say that you are the most 
 successful of all my pupils. Have you brought 
 your body-guard this time ? " 
 
 "No, Mr. Clark," answered Dick, respectfully. 
 "Let me introduce Mr. Breen of the navy my 
 old teacher, Breen. I hope you don't think that 
 I've declared endless war, sir." 
 
 " I should hope not," said the principal with a 
 forgiving smile. " For in that case we will need 
 a larger police force than we are getting. You 
 will remain with us awhile ? Yes ? "Well, I will 
 see you again. By the way, at Mr. Arthur's 
 suggestion, a few of us have considered er a 
 little banquet a reception, you know. Naval 
 heroes are scarce with us and we must make the 
 most of them." 
 
 He hurried away before Dick could reply, and 
 Breen sank back in a fit of laughter. 
 
 " Told you so," he sang, as he looked into 
 Dick's worried face. 
 
 " I'll clear out first," said Dick, savagely, " and 
 I can't stand much more of this, either," he
 
 334 MASTERS OF MEN 
 
 looked at the still growing crowd without, 
 "Let's bolt this grub and get out of sight." 
 
 They finished the meal and sought the parlour, 
 from which, two hours later, they emerged, to en 
 ter a cab, neither being willing to head a parade 
 through the streets, and in less than ten minutes 
 stood in Mabel Arthur's parlour, Breen with a 
 joke and a smile for everything, Dick, sober and 
 somewhat ill at ease. He had fought his way to 
 this new world, but it was yet strange to him. 
 
 An inner door opened, and Mabel appeared, 
 gowned in black, but with colour in her cheeks, 
 and the beauty in her face unmarred by the sor 
 row in her eyes. With the old swift glance at 
 both, she advanced, smiling slightly to Breen, 
 but paying no attention at all to Dick. 
 
 "I am glad you've come at last," she said, in 
 the full, musical tones which Dick could only 
 remember in his dreams. "Have you seen 
 Bessie ? " 
 
 " Not yet, Miss Arthur," laughed Breen, as he 
 took her extended hand. 
 
 " I was in duty bound to bring him here, you 
 know, before doing anything else. I believe that 
 you have never been formally introduced " he 
 waved his hand toward Dick "my friend, 
 Ensign Halpin, of the navy he has come home 
 an officer and " 
 
 "He has done well; and you have not.
 
 CIVILIZATION 335 
 
 Take your cap and go to Bessie. At once" 
 she spoke imperiously, though still smiling. " Do 
 not come back without her." 
 
 " But won't you please acknowledge the intro 
 duction," protested Breen ; " can't I see you shake 
 hands with him ? My friend, you know." 
 
 " I will take care of him. Go ! " 
 
 She resolutely pointed to the door. 
 
 "All right," said Breen, laughingly backing 
 away. " Dick, take warning. I'm put out. I 
 know all about it now." 
 
 He disappeared through the door, and the girl 
 turned toward Dick. 
 
 " He has almost broken her heart," she said. 
 "A man should not do that." 
 
 "I knew," he answered, slightly inclining his 
 head. 
 
 She slowly approached him, her lips trembling 
 as though she were about to speak. Almost 
 involuntarily he advanced to meet her. Gray 
 eyes looked into black black into gray. Deep 
 spoke unto deep ; and Mabel and Dick, in this, 
 the third meeting of their lives, drew closer and 
 closer together; then, with his arms about her 
 waist, their lips met.
 
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