'No,' said Riggs, 'only dreaming as you are.
I wondered what he meant by the words 'dreaming as you are .
'Went to bed on my way home to marry,' he continued, stroking his
long white beard, 'and saw the lights go out an' went asleep and it
hasn't come morning yet - that's what I believe. I went into a
dream. Think I'm here in a shop talking but I'm really in my bunk
on the good ship Arid coming home. Dreamed everything since
then - everything a man could think of. Dreamed I came home and
found Annie dead, dreamed of blindness, of old age, of poverty, of
eating and drinking and sleeping and of many people who pass like
dim shadows and speak to me - you are one of them. And
sometimes I forget I am dreaming and am miserable, and then I
remember and am happy. I know when the morning comes I shall
wake and laugh at all these phantoms. And I shall pack my things
and go up on deck, for we shall be in the harbour probably - ay!
maybe Annie and mother will be waving their hands on the dock!
The old face had a merry smile as he spoke of the morning and all
it had for him.
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