Ralph Stock

“ The “police” were a zealous force, and while the procession filed toward a tank they hustled the “débutants” like sheep onto the lower deck.
The first to be presented was a lanky youth from the steerage, who showed an abject readiness to submit to anything; but his meekness availed him nothing; he was forcibly seized and carried to the hatchway, where he was hoisted onto a form opposite Neptune's “throne.” His shirt was opened, and his chest and face thoroughly plastered with an evil-looking, black concoction which was as thoroughly removed by the “doctor” with a gigantic wooden razor. ”

“ To Sprague—inclined to be trivial, even frivolous—there was the fascination of unplumbed depths in Nathaniel Stone; and to the American, Sprague was as a drink of sparkling water to a thirsty soul.
Together they accomplished the morning constitutional on the promenade deck, smoked the postprandial cigar of contentment and companionship at the ship's rail, explored the cinnamon gardens of Colombo and the Arab quarters at Port Said; and each day revealed to Sprague fresh traits in the other's extraordinary personality, for extraordinary it proved to be. ”

“ With his soaking shirt clinging to his body, it was at once apparent that the man was possessed of tremendous strength, the muscles of his arms and shoulders playing under the sodden linen like strands of steel, while “devil” after “devil” went in to defeat. ”