The Lifeboat | Page 8

into yer two eyes, an' sit for
half-an-hour (or three-quarters, if it's tremendous deep) without movin'.
If that don't do, and you ha'nt got time to try it over again, give in at
once, an haul your colours down, but on no occasion wotiver nail them
to the mast,--'xceptin' always, w'en you're cocksure that you're right, for
then, of coorse, ye can't go far wrong."
This little touch of philosophy convinced Bax that if he did not wish to
sit there half the night, the sooner he changed the subject the better, so
he called the waiter, and paid his bill, saying to his companions that it
was time to go aboard if they wanted a snooze before tripping the
anchor.
"What have you had, sir?" said the waiter, turning to Bluenose.
The man said this with a sneer, for he knew that the captain had taken
nothing since he entered the house, and was aware, moreover, that he
was a water-drinker.
"I've had nothin'," replied the Captain, "nor don't want any, thank 'ee."
"Oh! beg pardon, sir," the waiter bowed and retired impressively.
"The house couldn't keep goin' long with some customers," stammered
a rough-looking, half-tipsy fellow who had overheard these remarks.
"Might do something for the good of the house," said another, who was
equally drunk.
"Who bade you put in your oar?" cried the first speaker fiercely, for he
had reached that condition of intoxication which is well known as the
fighting stage. The other man was quite ready to humour him, so,

almost before one could understand what had been said, a savage blow
was given and returned, oaths and curses followed, and in two seconds
one of the combatants had his opponent by the throat, threw him on his
back, with his neck over the fender and his head thrust into the ashes.
Instantly the room was a scene of wild confusion, as some of the
friends of both men endeavoured to separate them, while others roared
in drunken glee to "let 'em have fair play, and fight it out."
The result of this quarrel might have been serious had not Bax thrust
the yelling crowd aside, and, exerting to the utmost the extraordinary
muscular power with which he had been endowed, tore the combatants
asunder by main force, and hurled them violently to opposite sides of
the room.
"Shame on you; lads," said he, "can you not drink your grog without
quarrelling about nothing?"
The towering size and the indignant look of Bax, as he said this, were
sufficient to quell the disturbance, although some of the more irascible
spirits could not refrain from grumbling about interference, and the
Yankee roundly asserted that "before he'd go into a public, and sit
down and smoke his pipe without doin' somethin' for the good o' the
'ouse, he'd like to see himself chawed up pretty slick, he would."
"Waiter a-hoy!" shouted Captain Bluenose sternly, on hearing this.
"Yes-sir."
"Bring me a tumbler o' gin and a pot o' cold water."
"Tum'ler--o'--gin--sir--an'--a--por--o'--col' wa'r, sir? Yes--sir."
The waiter stopped suddenly and turned back.
"Mixed, sir?"
"No, not mixed, sir," replied Bluenose, with a look and tone of
withering sarcasm; "contrairywise, wery much separated."

When the gin and water were placed on the table, the Captain quietly
took up the former and cast it, glass and all, under the grate, after which
he raised the pot of water to his lips, and, looking round on the
company with a bland smile, said:--
"There, I've took somethin' for the good of the house, and now, lads, I'll
drink to your better health and happiness in my favourite tipple, the
wich I heartily recommend to you."
Bluenose drained the pot, flung a half-crown on the table, and
swaggered out of the house with his hands deep in the pockets of his
rough pea-jacket.
The fact was that the worthy Captain felt aggrieved, and his spirit was
somewhat ruffled at the idea of being expected to drink in a house
where he had oftentimes, for years past, regaled himself with, and
expended his money upon, bread and cheese and ginger-beer!
CHAPTER THREE.
IN WHICH THE INTRODUCTION OF IMPORTANT
PERSONAGES IS CONTINUED, IN RATHER EXCITING
CIRCUMSTANCES.
"Where away's the boat, lad?" said Captain Bluenose to Bax, on
recovering his equanimity.
"Close at hand; mind the fluke of that anchor. The owner of this spot
should be put in limbo for settin' man-traps. Have a care of your shins,
Guy; it's difficult navigation here on a dark night."
"All right, Bax," replied Guy; "I'll keep close in your wake, so if you
capsize we shall at least have the comfort of foundering together."
The place through which the three friends were groping their way was
that low locality of mud and old stores, which forms the