Collected works > Edinburgh edition, 1894-98 - Works of Robert Louis Stevenson > Volume 20, 1896 - Travels and excursion, Volume III

THE EBB-TIDE
All hands were turned out ; two Kanakas were
sent below, another stationed at a purchase ; and
Davis, axe in hand, took his place beside the coam-
ings.
' Are you going to let the men know ? ' whispered
Herrick.
* Damn the men ! ' said Davis. ' It 's beyond that.
We've got to know ourselves.'
Three cases were sent on deck and sampled in
turn ; from each bottle, as the captain smashed it
with the axe, the champagne ran bubbling and
creaming.
' Go deeper, can't you ? ' cried Davis to the
Kanakas in the hold.
The command gave the signal for a disastrous
change. Case after case came up, bottle after bottle
was burst, and bled mere water. Deeper yet, and
they came upon a layer where there was scarcely
so much as the intention to deceive ; where the
cases were no longer branded, the bottles no longer
wired or papered, where the fraud was manifest and
stared them in the face.
' Here 's about enough of this foolery ! ' said Davis.
' Stow back the cases in the hold, Uncle, and get
the broken crockery overboard. — Come with me,' he
added to his co-adventurers, and led the way back
into the cabin.
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