"Do you think the mate found it?" 'e says, in a 'usky voice.
We went through it ag'in, and then Bill went half-way up the fo'c's'le
ladder and called softly for Jimmy. He called three times, and then,
with a sinking sensation in 'is stummick, 'e went up on deck and I
follered 'im. The boy was nowhere to be seen. All we saw was the ship's
cat 'aving a wash and brush-up afore going ashore, and the skipper
standing aft talking to the owner.
We never saw that boy ag'in. He never turned up for 'is box, and 'e
didn't show up to draw 'is pay. Everybody else was there, of course, and
arter I'd got mine and come outside I see pore Bill with 'is back up
ag'in a wall, staring 'ard at the second mate, who was looking at 'im
with a kind smile, and asking 'im 'ow he'd slept. The last thing I saw
of Bill, the pore chap 'ad got 'is 'ands in 'is trousers pockets, and was
trying 'is hardest to smile back.
End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Bill's Paper Chase, by W.W. Jacobs
*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BILL'S PAPER CHASE ***
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