“Not a tap,” he announced.  “Not a tap.  They can fire me if they want to, but if they do, I’ll quit.  No more work in mine, thank you kindly.  Me for the freight cars an’ the shade under the trees.  Go to it, you slaves!  That’s right.  Slave an’ sweat!  Slave an’ sweat!  An’ when you’re dead, you’ll rot the same as me, an’ what’s it matter how you live?—­eh?  Tell me that—­what’s it matter in the long run?”

On Saturday they drew their pay and came to the parting of the ways.

“They ain’t no use in me askin’ you to change your mind an’ hit the road with me?” Joe asked hopelessly: 

Martin shook his head.  He was standing by his wheel, ready to start.  They shook hands, and Joe held on to his for a moment, as he said:-

“I’m goin’ to see you again, Mart, before you an’ me die.  That’s straight dope.  I feel it in my bones.  Good-by, Mart, an’ be good.  I like you like hell, you know.”

He stood, a forlorn figure, in the middle of the road, watching until Martin turned a bend and was gone from sight.

“He’s a good Indian, that boy,” he muttered.  “A good Indian.”

Then he plodded down the road himself, to the water tank, where half a dozen empties lay on a side-track waiting for the up freight.

CHAPTER XIX

Ruth and her family were home again, and Martin, returned to Oakland, saw much of her.  Having gained her degree, she was doing no more studying; and he, having worked all vitality out of his mind and body, was doing no writing.  This gave them time for each other that they had never had before, and their intimacy ripened fast.

At first, Martin had done nothing but rest.  He had slept a great deal, and spent long hours musing and thinking and doing nothing.  He was like one recovering from some terrible bout if hardship.  The first signs of reawakening came when he discovered more than languid interest in the daily paper.  Then he began to read again—­light novels, and poetry; and after several days more he was head over heels in his long-neglected Fiske.  His splendid body and health made new vitality, and he possessed all the resiliency and rebound of youth.

Ruth showed her disappointment plainly when he announced that he was going to sea for another voyage as soon as he was well rested.

“Why do you want to do that?” she asked.

“Money,” was the answer.  “I’ll have to lay in a supply for my next attack on the editors.  Money is the sinews of war, in my case—­money and patience.”

“But if all you wanted was money, why didn’t you stay in the laundry?”

“Because the laundry was making a beast of me.  Too much work of that sort drives to drink.”

She stared at him with horror in her eyes.

“Do you mean—?” she quavered.

It would have been easy for him to get out of it; but his natural impulse was for frankness, and he remembered his old resolve to be frank, no matter what happened.