In London, a woman's husband does not return after going to sea. She tells her son to stay away from the sea, but when he is twelve, he runs away to the docks and goes aboard a dangerous ship, known for having bad things happen to it. The son sets sail, hoping to bring wages back to his mother. A storm hits while he is on the homeward leg of the trip, and the sailors decide they will need to eat someone to survive. The crew draws lots, and the son is eaten. When the ship arrives, the sailors tell the mother that her son died in the storm. However, one sailor named Jack, who the mother once loved, tells her the truth, giving her one of the son's bones that he kept. When she hears the story, she doubts that the lots were drawn fairly. The woman then reveals to Jack that the boy was his own son. That night, Jack drowns himself. It is raining in London, and the woman is walking the Rotherhithe docks as she has done for years. No one knows why but no one ever asks. She examines the ships and the docks. A stranger nearby notes that the Thames is dirty and full of bones. They take refuge from the rain under a canvas awning. When the woman nears, she begins talking. It is hard to hear her over the sound of the rain, but the woman tells the story of her son. She then takes the bone from a chain around her neck and extends it to the stranger so that they may touch it.