ABSTRACT
There were five of them, mighty-shouldered fellows, round a table drinking, in a gloomy sort of room which smelt of brine and the sea. The den, for so it might be described, was too low for men of their stature, and tapered towards one end, like the interior of a great hollow sea-gull; it rocked gently, giving out a monotonous plaint, with a slowness of sleep.
