CHAPTER XV
A LANDED PROPRIETOR SETS UF A GALLOWS TREE
BACK to the Ship and to duty went "Hangman Jerk," with much to think over in his bullet head, and much to digest in his tight little stomach. To make head or tail of the Doctor's remarkable manner was beyond him, so he dismissed it from his mind and instead fell to contemplating the two silver crowns: one payment for keeping his weather eye open—easily earned; the other—the schoolmaster's safety—directly against his highest hopes; yes, a crown was poor payment for that, especially as it was now possible for himself to be the direct means of hanging his enemy.
Approaching the bar door, he paused, for he heard voices within, voices that he knew released him from work, the voices of Mrs. Waggetts and the pride of her life—the sexton Mipps.
Jerk knew exactly how the land lay with Mrs. Waggetts, and he was always wondering when (if ever) she would succeed in folding that queer little man within the safe bonds of matrimony. Now whatever Jerk's failings may have been, he was loyal to his friends, and
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