Only one
man knew what had happened to him, and that was me, for with my
own eyes I saw the skipper tip up his heels and put him over the
rail in the middle watch of a dark night, two days before we
sighted the Shetland lights.
"Well, I kept my knowledge to
myself and waited to see what would come of it. When we got
back to Scotland it was easily hushed up, and nobody asked any
questions. A stranger died by an accident, and it was nobody's
business to inquire. Shortly after Peter Carey gave up the sea,
and it was long years before I could find where he was.
I guessed that he had done the deed for the sake of what was in
that tin box, and that he could afford now to pay me well for
keeping my mouth shut.
"I found out where he was through a sailor man that had met him
in London, and down I went to squeeze him. The first night he
was reasonable enough, and was ready to give me what would make
me free of the sea for life. We were to fix it all two nights
later. When I came I found him three parts drunk and in a vile
temper. We sat down and we drank and we yarned about old times,
but the more he drank the less I liked the look on his face.
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