virgin of the rocks

FOR THREE DAYS I DID MY OWN work and Thomas Mugridge's too, and I flatter myself that I did his work well. I know that it won Wolf Larsen's approval, while the sailors beamed with satisfaction during the brief time my regime lasted. ¡¡¡¡'The first clean bite since I come aboard Harrison said to me at the galley door, as he returned the dinner pots and pans from the forecastle. 'Somehow, Tommy's grub always tastes of grease,- stale grease,- and I reckon he ain't changed his shirt since he left 'Frisco.' ¡¡¡¡'I know he hasn't,' I answered. ¡¡¡¡'And I'll bet he sleeps in it,' Harrison added. ¡¡¡¡'And you won't lose,' I agreed. 'The same shirt, and he hasn't had it off once in all this time.' ¡¡¡¡But three days were all Wolf Larsen allowed him in which to recover from the effects of the beating. On the fourth day, lame and sore, scarcely able to see, so closed were his eyes, he was haled from his bunk by the nape of the neck and set to his duty. He sniffled and wept, but Wolf Larsen was pitiless