Then, as he still groaned, though
more feebly, I got out my phial of morphia and a needle. As I held
the bottle against a sort of binnacle-light by which Macnaughten sat
steering, I caught his eyes staring down on me, quiet and solemn.
I tell you, that man was a man, Roddy.
"'Yes, I know, Doctor,' he said quietly. 'You're calculating how
much there is of it, and how you may have to use it before we're
through. . . . What about Swainson?'
"'He'll pull around,' said I. 'The vaseline will ease three-fourths
of his trouble within ten minutes.'
"'Keep your voice low,' said the skipper, 'as I'm keeping mine.'
He bent forward, pretending to consult the compass. 'I've sent all
these fellows forward, though they put her down by the head so that
it's like steering a monkey by the tail. . . . Now I reckon that
you'll be wishful to go back to-morrow, or as soon as may be, and
join your party. That's so?'
"'That's so,' said I, as I finished the injection and turned to deal
with the stoker.
"'Well, I'd like to have you here aboard,' said the skipper.
'But so's best.
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