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have recognized their erstwhile crony had he suddenly appeared in their midst in

the alley back of the feed-store on Grand Avenue.

With the new life Billy found himself taking on a new character. He surprised

himself singing at his work--he whose whole life up to now had been devoted to

dodging honest labor--whose motto had been: The world owes me a living, and it's

up to me to collect it. Also, he was surprised to discover that he liked to work,

that he took keen pride in striving to outdo the men who worked with him, and

this spirit, despite the suspicion which the captain entertained of Billy since the

episode of the forecastle, went far to making his life more endurable on board the

Halfmoon, for workers such as the mucker developed into are not to be sneezed

at, and though he had little idea of subordination it was worth putting up with

something to keep him in condition to work. It was this line of reasoning that

saved Billy's skull on one or two occasions when his impudence had been

sufficient to have provoked the skipper to a personal assault upon him under

ordinary conditions; and Mr. Ward, having tasted of Billy's medicine once, had no

craving for another encounter with him that would entail personal conflict.

The entire crew was made up of ruffians and unhung murderers, but Skipper

Simms had had little experience with seamen of any other ilk, so he handled

them roughshod, using his horny fist, and the short, heavy stick that he

habitually carried, in lieu of argument; but with the exception of Billy the men all

had served before the mast in the past, so that ship's discipline was to some

extent ingrained in them all.

Enjoying his work, the life was not an unpleasant one for the mucker. The men of

the forecastle were of the kind he had always known--there was no honor among

them, no virtue, no kindliness, no decency. With them Billy was at home--he

scarcely missed the old gang. He made his friends among them, and his enemies.

He picked quarrels, as had been his way since childhood. His science and his

great strength, together with his endless stock of underhand tricks brought him

out of each encounter with fresh laurels. Presently he found it difficult to pick a

fight--his messmates had had enough of him. They left him severely alone.

These ofttimes bloody battles engendered no deep-seated hatred in the hearts of

the defeated. They were part of the day's work and play of the half-brutes that

Skipper Simms had gathered together. There was only one man aboard whom

Billy really hated. That was the passenger, and Billy hated him, not because of

anything that the man had said or done to Billy, for he had never even so much

as spoken to the mucker, but because of the fine clothes and superior air which

marked him plainly to Billy as one of that loathed element of society--a

gentleman.

The Mucker