"Then cl'ar out. Git erlong. Don't come makin' no trouble fer me. I don't ask ye to drink—git away."
"Yes, sir," went on Journegan, turning to an approaching customer. "It's the same now as it always ware—same as it ware in the beginning—always shall be just the same—human nature never changes, not at all. There'll always be the bad, and always be the good. The bad are the strong gone wrong. The good are the weak tryin' to make good; sometimes they're strong too, but very seldom. Strength and goodness don't go together except in rare cases, but when a good man's strong, he's sure nuff strong.
"Ye see, we've all got a livin' to make. We hire men to study religion for us and pay 'em to preach it out of pulpits—yes, sir, actually pay 'em to git up and preach about th' Gospel as if you or me couldn't read or write! What's the sense? What's the sense of paying a man for doing something you can do yourself just as well? If salvation depends on a fellow's ability to translate the Gospel, then it's a mighty poor Gospel for poor folk—but it don't. It's a good livin' they make preachin', and I for one don't take no offense at a feller chargin' for his talk; not that he knows any more than you or me—'cause he can't know a blame bit more—but we've all got to live, an' the feller what talks has to live, too. Let him live by talk. Let me live by sellin' things. I don't ask no favours, but I don't want no guy what jest talks an' talks fer money to come around an' bother me—that's all; yes, that's erbout all, I reckon."
You will see that Journegan was very popular with the strong men who worked and very unpopular with the men who preached.
"Your head is as long as your body," admitted Captain Smart, entering the gilded hall. "What you say goes, Stormalong—gimme a drink."
"Goin' to meet the ship?" asked Journegan.
"Yep, I'm goin' back in her if I get the chance," said Smart. "I've been on the beach here a week now. Dunn settled up his wrecking bill with that fellow 'Bahama Bill' and Captain Sanders and their gang, and that lets me out. I'm out a good berth. She was a fine yacht."
"'Twasn't your fault you lost her, I heard tell," said Journegan, with a leer.
"I did all I could," admitted Smart, "but I lost her, just the same. There is no excuse for the loser, you know."
"Yep, I knows well enough," said Journegan slowly, as if thinking over something. "'Peared to be leakin' badly all o' a sudden-like, hey?"