"That seems to me very fine," said Hemming, seriously, "and I should certainly take it for literature of an unusually high order if I did not know that journalists cannot write literature." "Do you think it will do?" asked O'Rourke, modestly. "My dear chap," replied Hemming, "it will do for anything,--for a book, or to carve on a monument. It's a dashed sight too good for any newspaper." "It certainly wouldn't do for a newspaper," laughed the younger man. "Just imagine an editor with a blue pencil, loose on those descriptions of vegetation. When I do newspaper stuff, I throw in the blood and leave out the beauty. That is for _Griffin's Magazine_." "Are you sure of your market?" asked the Englishman, wondering for even in England, _Griffin's_ was known for its quality. "It was ordered," said O'Rourke, "and this will make the ninth article I have done for them within five years. After months of seeing and feeling things, I put the heart of it all, at one sitting, into a story for _Griffin's_. After that I cook my experiences and hard-earned knowledge into lesser dishes for lesser customers. Sometimes I even let it off in lyrics." "You must flood the magazines," remarked Hemming, dryly. "Not I. To begin with, I place a great deal of my work with publications of which you have never heard, and then, as I am young and very productive, I write under three names, using my own for only the things I wish to stand." He arose and turned out the light, and to Hemming's amazement gray dawn was on the sea and the narrow decks, and on the morning wind came the odour of coffee. "I think we are both good for a nap now," said O'Rourke. They left the master of the boat slumbering on his narrow couch, and went to their staterooms; and before Hemming fell asleep, with his face to the draft of the port, he thanked God in his heart for a new friend. CHAPTER V. THE ADVENTURERS DISPENSE WITH MR. NUNEZ