“Youweresayingjustnowyoudidn’tunderstand，“hewentonslowly，withoutlookingup；“soyoumusttakeyourownbearingsfromwhatI’mtellingyou。WhenImetyouthatnightIhadjustarrivedfromMelbourne。IhadbeenluckyinsometradingspeculationsIhadoutthere，andIhadsomebillswithme，butnomoneyexceptwhatIhadtuckedintheskinofthatportmanteauandafewpapersconnectedwithmyfamilyathome。WhenamanlivestherovingkindoflifeIhave，helearnstokeepallthathecaresforunderhisownhat，andisn’tapttoblabtofriends。ButitgotoutinsomewayonthevoyagethatIhadmoney，andastherewasamixedlotof’Sydneyducks’and’ticketofleavemen’onboard，itseemstheyhatchedanicelittleplottowaylaymeonthewharfonlanding，robme，anddropmeintodeepwater。Tomakeitseemlesssuspicious，theyassociatedthemselveswithalotofcrimpswhowereonthelookoutforoursailors，whoweregoingashorethatnighttoo。I’dmysuspicionsthatacoupleofthosemenmightbewaitingformeattheendofthewharf。Ilefttheshipjustaminuteortwobeforethesailorsdid。ThenImetyou。
Thatmeeting，mylad，wasmyfirststeptowardsalvation。Forthetwomenletyoupasswithmyportmanteau，whichtheydidn’trecognize，asIknewtheywouldME，andsupposedyouwereastranger，andlaylow，waitingforme。I，whowentintothegin-
millwiththeothersailors，wasfoolishenoughtodrink，andwasdruggedandcrimpedastheywere。Ihadn’tthoughtofthat。A
poordevilofaticketofleaveman，aboutmysize，wasknockeddownforme，and，“headded，suppressingalaugh，“willbeburied，deeplylamented，inthechancelofDorntonChurch。Whiletherowwasgoingon，theskipper，fearingtoloseothermen，warpedoutintothestream，andsoknewnothingofwhathappenedtome。Whentheyfoundwhattheythoughtwasmybody，hewaswillingtoidentifyitinthehopethatthecrimemightbechargedtothecrimps，andsodidtheothersailorwitnesses。ButmybrotherBill，whohadjustarrivedherefromCallao，wherehehadbeenhuntingforme，hushedituptopreventascandal。Allthesame，Billmighthaveknownthebodywasn’tmine，eventhoughhehadn’tseenmeforyears。“
“Butitwasfrightfullydisfigured，sothatevenI，whosawyouonlyonce，couldnothaveswornitwasNOTyou，“saidRandolphquickly。