"I don't want any harm to come to him."
"In course not. I'll use him jest as gentle as I do any man on the ship."
"And he must never know that I--"
"He won't know nothin'. When a man gits drunk enough he can't tell what happens. You might tell yer lady friend that this is a little weddin' present I'm makin' to my oldest an' best friend, that is, if you git spliced afore I gits back from Vladivostok."
"I'll surely let her know your part of the transaction. When does the Susquehanna sail?"
"Thursday morning. Tide turns at two o'clock. We'll git out about four."
"You don't touch anywhere?"
"Not a place unless we're druv to it by bad weather or some accident. But if we do git hold of a cable I'll see that he stays safe aboard, in case, which ain't likely, we're obliged to drop anchor in any civilized port."
"Have you got a wireless aboard?"
"Nary wireless. When we take our departure from Fire Island it's up to Cap'n Fish an' me an' the rest of us to bring her in."