"So you see there's nothin' for you to do but turn to an' behave yourself an' obey orders. When the ship reaches Vladivostok, an' we pays off, you can take your discharge an' go where you please."
"I'll give you a thousand dollars to go back to New York and land me."
The captain grinned. Taking their cue from him, Mr. Woywod and Mr. Salver exploded with laughter.
"You might as well make it ten thousand, while you're about it."
"I will make it ten thousand," said Beekman, desperately.
"Nonsense!"
"Well, then, will you trans-ship me to some vessel bound for New York?"
"We're short handed, sir," put in Woywod.
"Couldn't think of it," said the captain, who, of course, disbelieved in toto Beekman's highly improbable story.
This was the richest and most extravagant tale he had ever listened to. To do him justice, every voyage he had ever sailed had produced someone who strove to get out of the ship by urging some wildly improbable excuse for his being there.