minute.”      

       “Yare.”      

       “Christ, how black it is.... It'ld be awful to drown in the dark like this.”      

       “It'ld be over soon.”      

       “Say, Fred, have you ever been so skeered that...?”      

       “D'you feel a-skeert?”      

       “Feel my hand, Fred.... No.... There it is. God, it's so hellish black you can't see yer own hand.”      

       “It's cold. Why are you shiverin' so? God, I wish I had a drink.”      

       “I ain't never seen the sea before...I didn't know...”      

       Fuselli heard distinctly the man's teeth chattering in the darkness.     

       “God, pull yerself together, kid. You can't be skeered like this.”      

       “O God.”      

       There was a long pause. Fuselli heard nothing but the churned water speeding along the ship's side and the wind roaring in his ears.     

       “I ain't never seen the sea before this time, Fred, an' it sort o' gits my goat, all this sickness an' all.... They dropped three of 'em overboard yesterday.”      

       “Hell, kid, don't think of it.”      

       “Say, Fred, if I... if I... if you're saved, Fred, an' not me, you'll write to my folks, won't you?”      

       “Indeed I will. But I reckon you an' me'll both go down together.”      

       “Don't say that. An' you won't forget to write that girl I gave you the address of?”      

       “You'll do the same for me.”      

       “Oh, no, Fred, I'll never see land.... Oh, it's no use. An' I feel so well an' husky.... I don't want to die. I can't die like this.”      

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