Sublime

Stephen was a wretched patient; sometimes he looked to M’Alister as an omniscient being who would certainly produce the one true physic; sometimes the ship resounded to the cry of ‘Charlatan’, and drugs would be seen hurtling through the scuttle. The chaplain suffered more than the rest: most of the officers haunted other parts of the ship when the

‘Hello,’ he said, intending a reproof. ‘Hello,’ said the boy. He had the ease of a creature never told it was a sinner from the womb.