"Yeh, he made you mad," said Slim in a remorseful tone, "but he made me sick." On deck a hundred or more vigorous young men were exercising their muscles in various forms of athletic sport. Here a group crowded around a contest in broad jumping, eagerly echoing the distances made, and there the men of another throng loudly applauded their favorites in a stiff boxing bout, while on another part of the deck a pair of one-hundred-and-eighty-pound huskies were struggling in a friendly wrestling match. A bright sun shone upon a sparkling sea, and the air was just crisp enough to be invigorating. At that moment Joe came up to inquire how his two chums felt. "Fine," declared Jerry. "Like a two-year-old," added Slim. "That doctor was telling the truth. I believe I never felt better in my life," and he began flapping his arms up and down like a rooster flails the air with its wings. "A fat man's race three times around the ship!" a youth yelled, spying Slim's activities. "Hurrah!" cried the crowd. "Get them started." The jumpers, the wrestlers, and the boxers immediately suspended their respective contests to enjoy the innovation. Slim was trying to back away, protesting that he "couldn't run for a cent," when a familiar, smiling countenance intruded itself in the circle of good-natured faces with the suggestion: "Well, how about a plum pudding, then?" Slim and Jerry at once recognized him as the youth who had similarly suggested a plum pudding, also sausage, at a most inopportune time. "Have you got one?" Slim demanded, his spirit aroused. "Sure have," announced the other, "and I'll make it the stake." Another shout went up as a second group pushed before Slim another youth who, so far as size, shape and avoirdupois was concerned, might have been his twin brother. They looked at each other and both burst into a hearty laugh. "Hello, Skinny," said the stranger. "Howdy, Delicate?" Slim came back at him, quick as a flash. "Want to race?" "Don't particularly want to race," responded the other lad, "but I'm awfully fond of plum pudding." "And sausage?" "Is there going to be a sausage in it, too?" asked the stranger, evidencing increasing interest. "Only yourself," Slim announced, laughing and jumping back quickly to avoid any belligerency his joke might inspire in the other. But he took the joke as good-naturedly as he did the howls of delight from the crowd, and the two peeled off their coats and discarded their hats as a couple of youths marked off the starting and finishing line, while others "cleared the deck for action." "This will be the tape," said a tall lean fellow, as he tied one end of a string to the rail, at a point just above the starting line. "After you have passed here the second time we'll stretch this out, and the first one to touch it will be the winner." "Right," said the fat boys together, leaning over in true sprinter fashion so far as their stomachs would permit them to stoop.