"When ye get to Glasgow, if ye are on the lookout for a place to slape,--try Barney O'Toole's in Argyle Street. The place is nothin' to look at, but it's a hummer inside, sor." I yawned drowsily once more, but the hint did not stop him. "If you'll excuse my inquisitiveness, sor,--or rather, what ye might call my natural insight,--I judge you're on either a moighty short tour, or a devil av a long one got up in a hurry." The little clatterbag's uncanny guessing harried me. "How do you arrive at your conclusions?" I asked, taking off my jacket and hanging it up. "Och! shure it's by the size av your wardrobe. No man goes on a well-planned, long trip with a knapsack and a bag av golfsticks." "Well,--it is likely to be long enough," I laughed ruefully. "Had a row with the old man and clearin' out?" he sympathised. "Well, good luck to yer enterprise. I did the same meself when I was thirteen; after gettin' a hidin' with a bit av harness for doin' somethin' I never did at all. I've never seen the old man since and never want to. Bad cess to him. "Would ye like a bite before ye turn in, sor? It's past supper-time, but I can find ye a scrapin' av something." "A bite and a bath,--if I may?" I put in. "I'm sticky all over." "A bath! Right ye are. I knew ye was a toff the minute I clapped my blinkers on ye." In ten minutes my talkative friend announced that my bath was in readiness. For ten minutes more he rattled on to me at intervals, through the bathroom door, poking into my past and arranging my future like a clairvoyant. Notwithstanding, he had a nice, steaming-hot supper waiting for me when I returned to my stateroom. As I fell-to, he stood by, enjoying the relish I displayed in the appeasing of my hunger. "If I was a young fellow av your age, strong build and qualities, do ye know where I would make for?" he ventured. "Where?" I asked, uninterestedly. He lowered his eyebrows. "Out West,--Canada," he said, with a decided nod of his head. "And, the farther west the better. The Pacific Coast has a climate like home, only better. For the main part, ye're away from the long winters;--it's a new country;--a young man's country:--it's wild and free:--and,--it's about as far away as ye can get from--from,--the trouble ye're leavin' behind." I looked across at him. "Oh! bhoy,--I've been there. I know what I'm talkin' about." He sighed. "But I'm gettin' old and I've been too long on the sea to give it up." He pulled himself together suddenly. Owing to his stature, that was not a very difficult task. "Man!--ye're tired. I'll be talkin' no more to you. Tumble in and sleep till we get to Glasgow." As he cleared away the dishes, I approached him regarding my fare. "Look here, steward,--I had not time to book my berth or pay my passage. What's the damage?" "Ten and six, sor, exclusive av meals," he answered, taking out his ticket book in a business-like way. "What name, sor?"