Jack London was credulous regarding the old sailor he met while waiting to get into the 'spike' one night A spike was a shelter where the destitute might get shelter and food for a couple of nights in return for a day's hard work breaking rocks or picking apart old rope. The old man said he was 87 had seen action in military campaigns to China, India, and elsewhere, and that he had won a Victroria Cross but had been made to resign it after being court-marshalled for assaulting an officer who had insulted his mother Very few sailors won a VC; most were soldiers. Of them, eight winners of the VC were forced to give them up for committing a crime. None of them matched the circumstances of the man in the queue. To be fair, Jack London did not have access to the internet.