The Clio messenger. (Clio, Mich.) 1907-current, 1916-01-07
CHAPTER vlI-Continued.

In the end. with loud protestations
that he could lose like a gentleman,
the cooks last money was staked on
the game and lost Whereupon he
leaned his head on his hands and
wept. Wolf Larsen looked curiously
at him, as though about to probe and
vivisect him, then changed his mind
as from the foregone conclusion that
there was nothing there to probe.
Hump" he said to me, deliberately
polite, kindly take Mr.. Mugridges
arm and help him up on deck He is
not feeling very we'll"
And tell Johnson to douse him with
few buckets of salt water" he add
ed, in a lower tone for my ear alone.
left Mr.. Mugridge on deck, in
the hands of a couple of grinning sail
ors who had been told off for the pur.
pose. Mr.. Mugridge was sleepily splut-
tering that he was a gentleman's son.
But as | descended the companion
stairs to clear the table | heard him
shrek as the first bucket of water
struck him.
Wolf Larsen was counting his win.
nings.
One hundred and eighty-five dollars
even," he said aloud. Just as |
thought The beggar came aboard
without cent"
And what you have won is mine,
Fir, ! said boldly
He favored me with uuizzical
smile. Hump, have studied some
grammar in my time, and ! think your
lenses are tangled Was mine you
should have said, not is mine.'"
1T is question not of grammar but
of ethics" ! answered
1t was possibly a minute before he
spoke.
Dye know. Hump" he said, with a
slow seriousness which had in it an
indefinable strain of sadness. that
this is the first time | have heard the
word ethics in the mouth of a man.
You and ] are the only men on this
ship who know its meaning"
AT one time in my life" he con-
tinued. after another pause, II
dreamed that | might some day talk
with men who used such language.
that ] might lift myself out of the
place in life in which | had been horn.
and hold conversation and mingle
with men who talked about just such
things as ethics. And this is the first
time ! have ever heard the word pro.
nounced. Which is all by the way,
for you are wrong. It is a question,
neither of grammar nor ethics, but of
fact"
II understand" said THE fact Is
that you have the money"
His face frightened He seemed
pleased at my perspicacity.
But you wrong me by withholding
it," objected.
Not at all. One man cannot wrong
another man. He can only wrong him.
self AS see it, ! do wrong always
when | consider the interests of 9th.
ers. Don't you see? How can two
particles of the yeast wrong each
other by striving to devour each
other? 1t is their Unborn heritage to
strive to devour, and to strive not to
be devoured When they depart from
this they sim"
Then you don't believe in altru.
ISM" | asked.
He received the word as IL Il had
familiar ring, though he pondered
it thoughtfully. Let me see, II means
something about cooperation, doesn't
It. ooh. yes, remember 1t now. |
ran across II in Spencer"
"Spencer!" cried. Have you read
him?"
mot very much" was his confess
sion. His Psychology lefI me butting
around in the doldrums for many a
day. But l did get something out of
his Data of Ethics There's where
ran across 'altrufsm, and l remember
now how II was used"
What else did you run across?"
asked.
In as few words as possible" he
began. Spencer puts It something
like this: First, man must act
for his own benetit-to do this is
to be moral and good. Next. he must
act for the benefit OF his children. And
third, he must act for the benefit of his
race"
And the highest, finest. right con-
duct" interjected, is that act which
benefits at the same time the man, his
children, and his race"
Il wouldn't stand for that" he re-
olied. Couldn't see the necessity for