"'Yes, when they strike the furnaces for the first time. This man was too old--over fifty, I should say--and should never have been taken on,' and he glanced reprovingly at Hunter. "'He begged so hard,' interrupted the Second Engineer, 'I let him on. We are short of men, too, on account of the strike--'He spoke as if in defence of his Chief. 'Didn't look to me to be so old till he caved in. Shall I make a box for him, sir?' and he turned to Hunter. "'Yes, and paint it.' "The Chief slipped his arm through mine, led me to a seat on the sofa beside his desk, and continued: "'He came aboard the day before we left New York. It was about seven o'clock at night, and I had changed my clothes and was going uptown to the theatre. I stood at the end of the gang-plank for a minute looking up the dock, pretty clean of freight by that time, and this man came creeping down along the side of the ship, looking about him in a way I didn't like. As he got nearer he stopped under a dock light, fumbled in his pocket and brought out a letter. He wasn't ten feet from me, and so I could see his face. He read it two or three times over, turning the leaves, and then he slipped it back into his pocket again and looked up at the ship's side; then he saw me and came straight for me. "'"I must go home," he said; "can you take me on?" "'"What at?" I got a look into his eyes then, and saw he was no thief; seemed more like a carpenter or a bricklayer. "'"Anything you can give me." "'"Stoking?" "'"Yes, if there's nothing else." "'Then the Second Engineer came down the gang-plank and I turned the man over to him and went uptown. When I heard he was to be buried I sent for you, just as I had promised.' "I had talked with Hunter about a burial at sea--it was one of the contrasts I had been waiting for. They had occurred often enough in my many crossings, but I, like the other passengers, was never informed; such sights are not proper on our side of the wall. "'What else did he say to you?' This question I addressed to the Second Engineer. "'Nothin'. I put him on; we ought to have six or eight more, but we couldn't get 'em--short now.' "'Did you find the letter?' I asked. "'No; Doctor did. He's got it now. He read it.' "'What did it say?' "'Well, near as I can remember, somethin' about his comin' home; a woman wrote it. He'll tell you when he comes back.' "'I'd like to see where he worked.' I was stretching the crack in my wall; peering into the next room, finding out how they lived and what on--all the things you should let alone, not being my business and the man being beyond hope. "'Take him down,' said Hunter, 'and show him the furnaces. Here, better peel off that coat and slip on my overalls and this jacket,' and he handed me the garments from a rack behind his door. 'Greasy down there; and look out for those ladders, they're almighty slippery when you ain't accustomed to 'em.' "'This way, sir,' said the Second Engineer.