If this adventure of “Hearts of Three” be collaboration, I am transported by it. But alack!—I fear me Mr. Goddard must then be the one collaborator in a million. We have never had a word, an argument, nor a discussion. But then, I must be a jewel of a collaborator myself. Have I not, without whisper or whimper of complaint, let him “register” through fifteen episodes of scenario, through thirteen hundred scenes and thirty-one thousand feet of film, through one hundred and eleven thousand words of novelization? Just the same, having completed the task, I wish I’d never written it—for the reason that I’d like to read it myself to see if it reads along. I am curious to know. I am curious to know. JACK LONDON. Waikiki, Hawaii, _March 23, 1916_. Back to Back Against the Mainmast Do ye seek for fun and fortune? Listen, rovers, now to me! Look ye for them on the ocean: Ye shall find them on the sea. CHORUS: Roaring wind and deep blue water! We’re the jolly devils who, Back to back against the mainmast, Held at bay the entire crew. Bring the dagger, bring the pistols! We will have our own to-day! Let the cannon smash the bulwarks! Let the cutlass clear the way! CHORUS: Roaring wind and deep blue water! We’re the jolly devils who, Back to back against the mainmast, Held at bay the entire crew. Here’s to rum and here’s to plunder! Here’s to all the gales that blow! Let the seamen cry for mercy! Let the blood of captains flow! CHORUS: Roaring wind and deep blue water! We’re the jolly devils who, Back to back against the mainmast, Held at bay the entire crew. Here’s to ships that we have taken! They have seen which men were best. We have lifted maids and cargo, And the sharks have had the rest. CHORUS: Roaring wind and deep blue water! We’re the jolly devils who, Back to back against the mainmast, Held at bay the entire crew. —_George Sterling._ HEARTS OF THREE CHAPTER I.