and laid his ear against it and listened, pale and kind of panting. Presently he whispers: 

 “Sounded like cocking a gun! Lord, what a life to lead!” 

Sounded like a cocking gun!

 Then he sunk down in a chair all limp and sick like, and wiped the sweat off of his face. 

 

CHAPTER III. A DIAMOND ROBBERY 

 From that time out, we was with him ’most all the time, and one or t’other of us slept in his upper berth. He said he had been so lonesome, and it was such a comfort to him to have company, and somebody to talk to in his troubles. We was in a sweat to find out what his secret was, but Tom said the best way was not to seem anxious, then likely he would drop into it himself in one of his talks, but if we got to asking questions he would get suspicious and shet up his shell. It turned out just so. It warn’t no trouble to see that he wanted to talk about it, but always along at first he would scare away from it when he got on the very edge of it, and go to talking about something else. The way it come about was this: He got to asking us, kind of indifferent like, about the passengers down on deck. We told him about them. But he warn’t satisfied; we warn’t particular enough. He told us to describe them better. Tom done it. At last, when Tom was describing one of the roughest and raggedest ones, he gave a shiver and a gasp and says: 

 “Oh, lordy, that’s one of them! They’re aboard sure—I just knowed it. I sort of hoped I had got away, but I never believed it. Go on.” 

 Presently when Tom was describing another mangy, rough deck passenger, he give that shiver again and says: 

 “That’s him!—that’s the other one. If it would only come a good black stormy night and I could get ashore. You see, they’ve got spies on me. They’ve got a right to come up and buy drinks at the bar yonder forrard, and they take that chance to bribe somebody to keep watch on me—porter or boots or somebody. If I was to slip ashore without anybody seeing me, they would know it inside of an hour.” 

 So then he got to wandering along, and pretty soon, sure enough, he was telling! He was poking along through his ups and downs, and when he 

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