quarter-rail. The pump-man was busy on a small job forward.

The quiet was unnatural. Noyes decided to take his constitutional on
the long gangway of the main deck. As he paced aft he saw that some of
the crew were laying the hatches on one of the tanks. He paced forward.
By the time he was aft again they were overhauling a large tarpaulin. He
watched them while they stretched it over the hatch covers. He wondered
what they were about, for the tanks of an empty oil ship are usually
left open in fine weather.

Presently he heard one of the men say to another as they stamped down
the tarpaulined hatch, "There--there's as good a prize ring as a man'd
want." And then he began to understand.

He stayed aft, while through the smoke of one long cigar he thought it
out. When he next went forward he stopped beside the pump-man, who was
cutting a thread on a section of deck-piping. "Do you mind my watching
how you do that trick?" he asked.

The pump-man looked up. "Surely not," adding after a moment, "though
there's nothing much worth watching to it."

Noyes noticed how deftly the tools were handled. Then he said, "So you
and the big fellow are going to have it out?"

"Yes, during dinner we agreed to settle it."

"But he's a notorious bruiser--liable to kill you."

"Maybe, but I don't think so. I've trimmed 'em bigger."