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“Thissickensme。”Isaid。“Let’sgoondeckandbreathe。”
Thecaptainnodded。“ItISkindoflonely，isn’tit？”hesaid。
“ButIcan’tgouptillIgetthecodesignals。Iwanttorunup’GotLeft’orsomething，justtobrightenupthisislandhome。
CaptainTrenthasn’tbeenhereyet，buthe’lldropinbeforelong；
andit’llcheerhimuptoseeasignalonthebrig。”
“Isn’ttheresomeofficialexpressionwecoulduse？”Iasked，vastlytakenbythefancy。“’Soldforthebenefitoftheunderwriters：forfurtherparticulars，applytoJ。Pinkerton，MontanaBlock，S。F。’“
“Well。”returnedNares，“Iwon’tsaybutwhatanoldnavyquartermastermighttelegraphallthat，ifyougavehimadaytodoitinandapoundoftobaccoforhimself。Butit’sabovemyregister。Imusttrysomethingshortandsweet：KB，urgentsignal，’Heaveallaback’；orLM，urgent，’Theberthyou’renowinisnotsafe’；orwhatdoyousaytoPQH？——’Tellmyownerstheshipanswersremarkablywell。’“
“It’spremature。”Ireplied；“butitseemscalculatedtogivepaintoTrent。PQHforme。”
TheflagswerefoundinTrent’scabin，neatlystoredbehindaletteredgrating；Nareschosewhatherequiredand(Ifollowing)
returnedondeck，wherethesunhadalreadydipped，andtheduskwascoming。
“Here！don’ttouchthat，youfool！”shoutedthecaptaintooneofthehands，whowasdrinkingfromthescuttlebut。“Thatwater’srotten！”
“Begpardon，sir。”repliedtheman。“Tastesquitesweet。”
“Letmesee。”returnedNares，andhetookthedipperandheldittohislips。“Yes，it’sallright。”hesaid。“Musthaverottedandcomesweetagain。Queer，isn’tit，Mr。Dodd？ThoughI’veknownthesameonaCapeHorner。”
Therewassomethinginhisintonationthatmademelookhimintheface；hestoodalittleontiptoetolookrightandleftabouttheship，likeamanfilledwithcuriosity，andhiswholeexpressionandbearingtestifiedtosomesuppressedexcitement。
“Youdon’tbelievewhatyou’resaying！”Ibrokeout。
“O，Idon’tknowbutwhatIdo！”hereplied，layingahanduponmesoothingly。“Thething’sverypossible。Only，I’mbotheredaboutsomethingelse。”
Andwiththathecalledahand，gavehimthecodeflags，andsteppedhimselftothemainsignalhalliards，whichvibratedundertheweightoftheensignoverhead。Aminutelater，theAmericancolours，whichwehadbroughtintheboat，replacedtheEnglishred，andPQHwasflutteringatthefore。
“Now，then。”saidNares，whohadwatchedthebreakingoutofhissignalwiththeold-maidishparticularityofanAmericansailor，“outwiththosehandspikes，andlet’sseewhatwaterthereisinthelagoon。”
Thebarswereshovedhome；thebarbarouscacophonyoftheclankingpumproseinthewaist；andstreamsofill-smellingwatergushedondeckandmadevalleysintheslabguano。
Naresleanedontherail，watchingthesteadystreamofbilgeasthoughhefoundsomeinterestinit。
“Whatisitthatbothersyou？”Iasked。
“Well，I’lltellyouonethingshortly。”hereplied。“Buthere’sanother。Doyouseethoseboatsthere，oneonthehouseandtwoonthebeds？Well，whereistheboatTrentloweredwhenhelostthehands？”
“Gotitaboardagain，Isuppose。”saidI。
“Well，ifyou’lltellmewhy！”returnedthecaptain。
“Thenitmusthavebeenanother。”Isuggested。
“Shemighthavecarriedanotheronthemainhatch，Iwon’tdeny。”admittedNares；“butIcan’tseewhatshewantedwithit，unlessitwasfortheoldmantogooutandplaytheaccordionin，onmoonlightnights。”
“Itcan’tmuchmatter，anyway。”Ireflected。
“O，Idon’tsupposeitdoes。”saidhe，glancingoverhisshoulderatthespou
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