“Oh, you’re from the Manhattan, ain’t you?”
“Yes. I thought you might have seen some of our men.”
“I sure have,” grinned the other. “I gave them a wide berth, too. One of them told me he could lick anybody aboard the New Hampshire. I might have tackled him but he had too many of his friends with him, so I made him a polite reply and vamoosed.”
“Where did all this happen?”
“Right down the street there. There’s a German runs the place. I wouldn’t go in it for two months’ pay.”
“Bad place, eh?”
“’Bout the worst there is in ’Frisco, a shipmate told me.”
“Well, I’ll soon find out.”
“Jumping top-masts, you ain’t goin’ in there, shipmate?”
“I certainly am. Why not?”