No, he's not dead,' said Davis.

And Attwater?' asked Herrick.

Now you just shut your head!' replied Davis. 'You can do that, I fancy,

and by God, I'll show you how! I'll stand no more of your drivel.'

They waited accordingly in silence till the boat bumped on the furthest

piers; then raised Huish, head and heels, carried him down the gangway,

and flung him summarily in the bottom. On the way out he was heard

murmuring of the loss of his cigar; and after he had been handed up the

side like baggage, and cast down in the alleyway to slumber, his last

audible expression was: 'Splen'l fl' Attwa'!' This the expert construed

into 'Splendid fellow, Attwater'; with so much innocence had this great

spirit issued from the adventures of the evening.

The captain went and walked in the waist with brief, irate turns;

Herrick leaned his arms on the taffrail; the crew had all turned in. The

ship had a gentle, cradling motion; at times a block piped like a bird.

On shore, through the colonnade of palm stems, Attwater's house was to

be seen shining steadily with many lamps. And there was nothing else

visible, whether in the heaven above or in the lagoon below, but the

stars and their reflections. It might have been minutes or it might have

been hours, that Herrick leaned there, looking in the glorified water

and drinking peace. 'A bath of stars,' he was thinking; when a hand was

laid at last on his shoulder.

161

The Ebb-Tide