‘Her Pity and Affections’
The Champion of the Forecastle by Robert E. Howard
Steve Costigan begins this adventure vexed by the fact that an enormous Swede on the crew of The Sea Girl will not stop challenging him to the only title he has, that is champion of the crew he ships with. After epic bunkroom brawling, Sailor Steve speaks with the man he has “drubbed” once again, taking no pleasure in the sad deed, and discovers that t…