Page:Doctor Syn - A Smuggler Tale of the Romney Marsh.djvu/162

 "Get it often in this place. Poor old Pepper used to tell me that it was the result of malaria I once had badly in Charleston, Carolina; nearly lost my life with it. Mosquito poisoning which brought on raging malaria. I dare say he was right: I'm a frequent sufferer. As soon as the mists rise from the Marsh I get the shivers."

"Ah, then there falls one of my points to the ground. Still I have another ready. Suppose we grant that your attack of ague had nothing to do with your sudden meeting with this man."

"Of course it hadn't," muttered the Doctor. "Absurd!"

"Very well, then, did you notice that the entire weight of the rum barrel was carried by Bill Spiker, the gunner?"

"No," said the Doctor, "I didn't notice that."

"No more did Bill Spiker," said the captain; "you can lay to that, or he would have soon raised objections; but I did notice it, because it's my business to note which of my men work hardest, you understand; for in cases of preferment I have to give my opinion."

"I don't see what that has to do with the case," said the Doctor. "It's a common enough complaint to find a man shirking work."

"Not when the man who shirks is an enthusiastic and willing worker. That's what made me wonder in the first place, and I've now come to the conclusion