Her confidence was shaken to the ground. Then a new suspicion came to
her.

"If he is such a terrible character, why did you let him come aboard
your ship?"

Instead of answering, he pulled a cord. The bos'n appeared in a moment.

"Tell this lady how Harrigan came aboard," ordered the captain, and he
fastened a keen eye upon the bos'n.

"Made it on the jump while we was pullin' out of dock," said the
sailor. "Just managed to get his feet on the gangplank--came within an
ace of falling into the sea."

"That's all."

The bos'n retreated and McTee turned back to Kate Malone.

"He had asked me to sign him up for this trip," he explained. "If I'd
set him ashore, he'd probably have been in the police court the next
morning. So I let him stay. To be perfectly frank with you, I had a
vague hope that gratitude might make a decent sailor out of him for a
few days. But the very first night he started his work he began to talk
discontent among the men in the forecastle, and such fellows are always
ready to listen. Of course I could throw Harrigan in irons and feed him
on bread and water; my authority is absolute at sea. But I don't want
to do that if I can help it. Instead, I have been trying to discipline
him with hard work. He knows that he can come to me at any time and
speak three words which will release him from his troubles. But he