A MAN TO HIS MATE

[Illustration: The sea struck the opposite rail with a roar]

A Man to His Mate

_by_

J. ALLAN DUNN

AUTHOR OFJim Morse--Adventurer, Turquoise Canyon, Dead Man's Gold, etc. 

_Illustrated by_STOCKTON MULFORD

INDIANAPOLISTHE BOBBS-MERRILL COMPANYPUBLISHERS

COPYRIGHT 1920THE FRANK A. MUNSEY COMPANY

COPYRIGHT 1920THE BOBBS-MERRILL COMPANY

_Printed in the United States of America_

PRESS OFBRAUNWORTH & CO. BOOK MANUFACTURERSBROOKLYN. N. Y. 

_To_J. E. DE RUYTER, ESQUIREthis yarn is affectionately andappreciatively dedicated

CONTENTS

CHAPTER PAGE

I BLIND SAMSON 1

II A DIVIDED COMPANY 25

III TARGET PRACTISE 47

IV THE BOWHEAD 73

V RAINEY SCORES 82

VI SANDY SPEAKS 96

VII RAINEY MAKES DECISION 117

VIII TAMADA TALKS 132

IX THE POT SIMMERS 151

X THE SHOW-DOWN 163

XI HONEST SIMMS 186

XII DEMING BREAKS AN ARM 210

XIII THE RIFLE CARTRIDGES 230

XIV PEGGY SIMMS 241

XV SMOKE 266

XVI THE MIGHT OF NIPPON 277

XVII MY MATE 293

XVIII LUND'S LUCK 332

A Man to His Mate

CHAPTER I

BLIND SAMSON

It was perfect weather along the San Francisco water-front, and Raineyreacted to the brisk touch of the trade-wind upon his cheek, the breezetempering the sun, bringing with it a tang of the open sea and a hint ofOriental spices from the wharves. He whistled as he went, watching alumber coaster outward bound. The dull thump of a heavy cane upon thetimbered walk and the shuffle of uncertain feet warned him fromblundering into a man tapping his way along the Embarcadero, a giant whohalted abruptly and faced him, leaning on the heavy stick. 

"Matey, " asked the giant, "could you put a blind man in the way offinding the sealin' schooner _Karluk_?"

The voice fitted its owner, Rainey thought--a basso voice tempered tothe occasion, a deep-sea voice that could bellow above the roar of agale if needed. For all his shoregoing clothes and shuffle, the man wascertainly a sailor, or had been. All the skin uncovered by cloth or hairwas weathered to leather, the great hands curled in as if they clutchedan invisible rope. He wore dark glasses with side lenses, over whichheavy brows projected in shaggy wisps of red hair. 

Blind as the man proclaimed himself with voice and action, Rainey sensedsomething back of those colored glasses that seemed to be appraisinghim, almost as if the will of the man was peering, or listening, focusedthrough those listless sockets. A kind of magnetism, not at allattractive, Rainey decided, even as he offered help and information. 

"You're not fifty yards from the _Karluk_, " Rainey replied. "But you'rebound in the wrong direction. Let me put you right. I'm going that waymyself. "

"That's kind of ye, matey, " said the other. "But I picked ye for thatsort, hearin' you whistlin' as you came swingin' along. Light-hearted, Ithinks, an' young, most likely; he'll help a stranded man. Give me thetouch of yore arm, matey, an' I'll stow this spar of mine. "

He swung about, slinging the curving handle of the stick over his rightelbow as the fingers of his left hand placed themselves on Rainey'sproffered arm. Strong fingers, almost vibrant with a force manifestthrough serge and linen. Fingers that could grip like steel uponoccasion. 

Rainey wonderingly sized up his consort. The stranger's bulk wasenormous. Rainey was well over the average himself, but he was only astripling beside this hulk, this stranded hulk, of manhood. And, for allthe spectacled eyes and shuffling feet, there was a stamp of coordinatedstrength about the giant that bespoke the blind Samson. Given eyes, Rainey could imagine him agile as a panther, strong as a bear. 

His weight was made up of thews and sinews, spare and solid fleshwithout an ounce of waste, upon a mighty skeleton. His face washeavy-bearded in hair of flaming, curling red, from high cheek-bonesdown out of sight below the soft loose collar of his shirt. The bridgeof his glasses rested on the outcurve of a nose like the beak of anosprey, the ends of the wires looped about ears that lay close to thehead, hairy about the inner-curves, lobeless, the tips suggesting theear-tips of a satyr. 

Mouth and jaw were hidden, but the beard could not deny the boldprojection of the latter. About thirty, Rainey judged him. Buffeted bytime and weather, but in the prime of his strength. 

"Snow-blinded, matey, " said the man. "North o' Point Barrow, a year an'more ago. Brought me up all standin'. What are you? Steamer man? Purser, maybe?"

"Newspaperman, " answered Rainey. "Water-front detail. For the _Times_. "

"You don't say so, matey? A writer, eh?"

Again Rainey felt the tug of that something back of the dark lenses, some speculation going on in the man's mind concerning him. And he feltthe firm fingers contract ever so slightly, sinking into the muscles ofhis forearm for a second with a hint of how they could bruise andparalyze at will. Once more a faint sense of revulsion fought with hisnatural inclination to aid the handicapped mariner, and he shook it off. 

"The _Karluk_ sails to-morrow, " he said. 

"Aye, so--so they told me, matey. You've bin aboard?"

"I had a short talk with Captain Simms when she docked. Not much of ayarn. She didn't have a good trip, you know. "

"Why, I didn't know. But--hold hard a minnit, will ye? You see, Simms isan old shipmate of mine. He don't dream I'm within a hundred miles o'here. Aye, or a thousand. " He gave a deep-chested chuckle. "Now, then, matey, look here. "

Rainey was anchored by the compelling grip. They stood next to the slipin which the sealer lay. The _Karluk's_ decks were deserted, thoughthere was smoke coming from the galley stovepipe. 

"Simms is likely to be aboard, " went on the other. "Ye see, I know hisways. An' I've come a long trip to see him. Nigh missed him. Only got infrom Seattle this mornin'. He ain't expectin' me, an' it's in my mind tosurprise him. By way of a joke. I don't want to be announced, ye see. Just drop in on him. How's the deck? Clear?"

"No one in sight, " said Rainey. 

"Fine! Mates an' crew down the Barb'ry Coast, I reckon. Sealers haveliberties last shore-day. Like whalers. I've buried a few irons myself, matey, but I'll never sight the vapor of a right whale ag'in. Stranded, I am. So you'll do me a favor, matey, an' pilot me down into the cabin, if so be the skipper's there. If he ain't, I'll wait for him. I've gotthe right an' run o' the _Karluk's_ cabin. I know ev'ry inch of her. You'll see when we go aboard. Let's go. "

Rainey led him down the gangway to the deck of the sealer, stillcluttered a bit with unstowed gear. Once on board, the blind man seemedto walk with assurance, guiding himself with touches here and there thatshowed his familiarity with the vessel's rig. And he no longer shuffled, but walked lightly, grinning at Rainey through his beard, with one bluntforefinger set to his mouth as he approached the cabin skylight, liftedon the port side. Through it came the murmur of voices. The blind mannodded in satisfaction and widened his grin with a warning "hush-h" tohis guide. 

"We'll fool 'em proper, " he lipped rather than uttered. 

The companion doors were closed, but they opened noiselessly. The stairswere carpeted with corrugated rubber that muffled all sound. Two men satat the cabin table, leaning forward, hands and forearms outstretched, fingering something. One Rainey recognized as the captain, Simms--aheavy, square-built man, gray-haired, clean-shaven, his flesh tanned, yet somehow unhealthy, as if the bronze was close to tarnishing. Therewere deep puffs under the gray tired eyes. 

The other was younger, tall, nervously active, with dark eyes and a darkmustache and beard, the latter trimmed to a Vandyke. Between them was along slim sack of leather, a miner's poke. It was half full of somethingthat stuffed its lower extremity solid, without doubt the same substancethat glistened in the mouth of the sack and the palms of the twomen--gold--coarse dust of gold!

Rainey felt himself thrust to one side as the blind man straddled acrossthe bottom of the companionway, towering in the cabin while he thrusthis stick with a thump on the floor and thundered, in a bellow thatseemed to fill the place and come tumbling back in deafening echo:

"_Karluk_ ahoy!"

The face of Captain Simms paled, the tan turned to a sickly gray, andhis jaw dropped. Rainey saw fear come into his eyes. His companion didnot stir a muscle except for the quick shift of his glance, but went onsitting at the table, the gold in one palm, the fingers of his otherhand resting on the grains. 

"Jim Lund!" gasped the captain hoarsely. 

"That's me, you skulking sculpin? Thought I was bear meat by this, didn't you, blast yore rotten soul to hell! But I'm back, Bill Simms. Back, an' this time you don't slip me!"

Jim Lund's face was purple-red with rage, great veins standing out uponit so swollen that it seemed they must surely burst and discharge theircongested contents. Out of the purpling flesh his scarlet hair curled indiabolical effect. His teeth gleamed through his beard, strong, yellow, far apart. He looked, Rainey thought, like a blind Berserker, restrainedonly by his affliction. 

"You left me blind on the floe, Bill Simms!" he roared. "Blind, in adrivin' blizzard with the ice breakin' up! If I didn't have use foryore carcass I'd twist yore head from yore scaly body like I'd pull up acarrot. "

Lund's fingers opened and closed convulsively. Before Rainey the visionof the threatened crime rose clear. 

"I looked for you, Jim, " pleaded the captain, and to Rainey his wordslacked conviction. "I didn't know you were blind. I heard you shout justbefore the blizzard broke loose. "

Lund answered with an inarticulate roar. 

"And there's others present, Jim. I can explain it to you when we're byourselves. When you're a mite calmer, Jim. "

Lund banged his stick down on the table with a smashing blow that madethe man with the Vandyke beard, still silent, keenly observant, drawback his arm with a catlike swiftness that only just evaded the stroke. The heavy wood landed fairly on the filled half of the poke and causedsome of the gold to leap out of the mouth. 

[Illustration: "What's that I hit?" asked Lund]

"What's that I hit?" asked Lund. "Soft, like a rat. " He lunged forward, felt for the poke, and found it, lifted it, hefted it, his foreheadpuckered with deep seams, discovered the open end, poured out some ofthe colors on one palm, and used that for a mortar, grinding at thegrains with his finger for a pestle, still weighing the stuff with aslight up-and-down movement of his hand. 

He nodded as he slipped the poke into a side pocket, and the cabin grewvery silent. Lund's face was grimly terrible. Rainey could have gonewhen the blind man reached for the gold and left the ladder clear. Hehad meant to go at the first opportunity, but now he was held fascinatedby what was about to happen, and Lund stepped back across thecompanionway. 

"So, " said Lund, his deep voice muffled by some swift restraint. "Youfound it. And yo're going back after more?" His forehead was stillcreased with puzzlement. "Wal, I'm going with ye, eyes or no eyes, an'I'll keep tabs on ye, Bill Simms, by day and night. You can lay to that, you slimy-hearted swab!"

His voice had risen again. Rainey saw the sweat standing out on thecaptain's forehead as he answered:

"Of course you'll come, Jim. No need for you to talk this way. "

"No need to talk! By the eternal, what I've got to say's bin steamin' inme for fourteen months o' blackness, an' it's comin' out, now it'sstarted! Who's this man, who was talkin' with ye when I come aboard?"

He wheeled directly toward the man with the Vandyke, who still satmotionless, apparently calm, looking on as if at a play that might turnout to be either comedy or tragedy. 

"That's Doctor Carlsen. He's to be surgeon this trip, Jim, " said Simmsdeprecatingly, though he darted a look at Rainey half suspicious, halfresentful. 

Rainey, on the hint, turned toward the ladder quietly enough, but Lundhad nipped him by the biceps before Rainey had taken a step. 

"You'll stay right here, " said Lund, "while I tell you an' this DocCarlsen what kind of a man Simms is, with his poke full of gold and mewith the price of my last meal spent two hours ago. I won't spin out theyarn. 

"I rescued an Aleut off a bit of a berg one time. There warn't much ofhim left to rescue. Hands an' feet an' nose was frozen so he lost 'em, but the pore devil was grateful, an' he told me something. Told about anisland north of Bering Strait, west of Kotzebue Sound, where there wasgold on the beach richer and thicker than it ever lay at Nome. I makesfor it, gits close enough for my Aleut to recognize it--it ain't an easyplace to forget for one who has eyes--an' then we're blown south, an' wegit into ice an' trouble. The Aleut dies, an' I lose my ship. But I wasclose enough to get the reckonin' of that island. 

"Finally I land at Seattle, broke. I meet up with the man they callHardluck Simms. Also they called him Honest Simms those days. Some saidhis honesty accounted for his hard luck. I like him, an' I finally tellhim about my island. I put up the reckonin', an' he supplies the_Karluk_, grub, an' crew. 

"Simms' luck is still ag'in' him. The _Karluk_ gits into ice, gitsnipped an' carried north, 'way north, with wind an' current, frozentight in a floe. It looks like we've got to winter there. Mind ye, I'vegiven Honest Simms the reckonin' of the island. We go out on the iceafter bear, though the weather's threatenin', for we're short of meat. An' we kill a Kadiak bear. Me--I'll never stand for the shootin' ofanother bear if I can stop it. 

"I've bin havin' trouble with my eyes. Right along. I'm on the floe noteighty yards from Simms. No, not sixty! It was me killed the bear, an'we're goin' back to the schooner for a sled. I stayed behind to bleedthe brute. All of a sudden, like it always hits you, snow-blindness gitsme, an' I shouts to Honest Simms. I'm blind, with my eyeballs on fire, an' the fire burnin' back inter my brain. 

"Along comes a Point Arrow blister. That's a gale that breeds an' burstsof a second out of nowhere. It gathers up all the loose snow an' icecrystals an' drives 'em in a whirlwind. Presently the wind starts theice to buckin' an' tremblin' like a jelly under you, splitting interlanes. You lose yore direction even when you got eyes. I'm left in it bythat bilge-blooded skunk, blind on the rockin', breakin' floe, while hescuds back to the schooner with his men. That's Honest Simms! Jim Lund'sleft behind but Honest Simms has the position of the island. "

"I didn't hear you call out you were blind, Lund. The wind blew yourwords away. I didn't know but what you were as right as the rest of us. The gale shut us all out from each other. We found the schooner by sheerluck before we perished. We looked for you--but the floe was broken up. We looked--"

"Shut up!" bellowed Lund. "You sailed inside of twenty-four hours, Honest Simms. The natives told me so later, when I could understand talkag'in. D'ye know what saved me? The bear! I stumbled over the carcasswhen I was nigh spent. I ripped it up and clawed some of the warm guts, an' climbed inside the bloody body an' stayed there till it got cold an'clamped down over me. Waitin' for you to come an' git me, Honest Simms!

"That bear was bed and board to me until the natives found it, an' me init, more dead than alive. Never mind the rest. I get here the day beforeyou start back for more gold. 

"An' I'm goin' with you. But first I'm goin' to have a full an' fairaccountin' o' what you got already. I've got this young chap with me, an' he'll give me a hand to'ard a square deal. "

Lund propelled Rainey forward a few steps and then loosened his grip. The captain of the _Karluk_ appealed to him directly. 

"You're with the _Times_, " he said. All through the talk Rainey wasconscious of the gaze of Doctor Carlsen, whose dark eyes appeared to bemocking the whole proceedings, looking on with the air of a man watchingcard-play with a prevision of how the game will come out. 

"Mr. Lund is unstrung, " said the captain. "He is under the delusion thatwe deliberately deserted him and, later, found the gold he speaks of. The first charge is nonsense. We did all that was possible in thefrightful weather. We barely saved the ship. 

"As for the gold, we touched on the island, and we did some prospecting, a very little, before we were driven offshore. The dust in the poke isall we secured. We are going back for more, quite naturally. I can proveall this to you by the log. It is manifestly not doctored, for weimagined Mr. Lund dead. If we had been able to work the beachthoroughly, nothing would tempt me into going back again to add to evena moderate fortune. "

Lund had been standing with his great head thrust forward as ifconcentrating all his remaining senses in an attempt to judge thecaptain's talk. The doctor sat with one leg crossed, smoking acigarette, his expression sardonic, sphinxlike. To Rainey, a littlebewildered at being dragged into the affair, and annoyed at it, CaptainSimms' words rang true enough. He did not know what to say, whether tospeak at all. Lund supplied the gap. 

"If that ain't the truth, you lie well, Simms, " he said. "But I don'ttrust ye. You lie when you say you didn't hear me call out I was blind. Sixty yards away, I was, an' the wind hadn't started. I was afraid--yes, afraid--an' I yelled at the top of my lungs. An' you sailed off insideof twenty-four hours. "

"Driven off. "

"I don't believe ye. You deserted me--left me blind, tucked in thebloody, freezin' carcass of a bear. Left me like the cur you are. Why, you--"

The rising frenzy of Lund's voice was suddenly broken by the clear noteof a girl's voice. One of two doors in the after-end of the main cabinhad opened, and she stood in the gap, slim, yellow-haired, with grayeyes that blazed as they looked on the little tableau. 

"Who says my father is a cur?" she demanded. "You?" And she faced Lundwith such intrepid challenge in her voice, such stinging contempt, thatthe giant was silenced. 

"I was dressing, " she said, "or I would have come out before. If you saymy father deserted you, you lie!"

Captain Simms turned to her. Doctor Carlsen had risen and moved towardher. Rainey wished he was on the dock. Here was a story breaking thatwas a _saga_ of the North. He did not want to use it, somehow. Thegirl's entrance, her vivid, sudden personality forbade that. He felt anintruder as her eyes regarded him, standing by Lund's side in apparentsympathy with him, arrayed against her father. And yet he was notcertain that Lund had not been betrayed. The remembrance of the firstlook in the captain's face when he had glanced up from handling the goldand seen Lund was too keen. 

"Go into your cabin, Peggy, " said the captain. "This is no place foryou. I can handle the matter. Lund has cause for excitement; but I cansatisfy him. "

Lund stood frozen, like a pointer on scent, all his faculties united inattention toward the girl. To Rainey he seemed attempting to visualizeher by sheer sense of hearing, by perceptions quickened in the blind. The doctor crossed to the girl and spoke to her in a low voice. 

Lund spoke, and his voice was suddenly mild. 

"I didn't know there was a lady present, miss, " he said. "Yore father'sright. You let us settle this. We'll come to an agreement. "

But, for all his swift change to placability, there was a sinisterundertone to his voice that the girl seemed to recognize. She hesitateduntil her father led her back into the cabin. 

"You two'll sit down?" said the doctor, speaking aloud for the firsttime, his voice amiable, carefully neutral. "And we'll have a drop ofsomething. Mr. Lund, I can understand your attitude. You've suffered agreat deal. But you have misunderstood Captain Simms. I have heard aboutthis from him, before. He has no desire to cheat you. He is rejoiced tosee you alive, though afflicted. He is still Honest Simms, Mr. Lund. 

"I haven't your name, sir, " he went on pleasantly, to Rainey. "Thecaptain said you were a newspaperman?"

"John Rainey, of the _Times_. I knew nothing of this before I cameaboard. "

"And you will understand, of course, what Mr. Lund overlooked in hisnatural agitation, that this is not a story for your paper. We shouldhave a fleet trailing us. We must ask your confidence, Mr. Rainey. "

There was a strong personality in the doctor, Rainey realized. Not theblustering, driving force of Lund, but a will that was persistent, powerful. He did not like the man from first appearances. He was tooaloof, too sardonic in his attitudes. But his manner was friendlyenough, his voice compelling in its suggestion that Rainey was a man tobe trusted. Captain Simms came back into the cabin, closing the door ofhis daughter's room. 

"We are going to have a little drink together, " said the doctor. "Ihave some Scotch in my cabin. If you'll excuse me for a moment? Captain, will you get some glasses, and a chair for Mr. Lund?"

The captain looked at Rainey a little uncertainly, and then at Lund, whose aggressiveness seemed to have entirely departed. It was Rainey whogot the chair for the latter and seated himself. He would join in afriendly drink and then be well shut of the matter, he told himself. 

And he would promise not to print the story, or talk of it. That wasrotten newspaper craft, he supposed, but he was not a first-class man, in that sense. He let his own ethics interfere sometimes with his penand what the paper would deem its best interests. And this was a whaleof a yarn. 

But it was true that its printing would mean interference with the_Karluk's_ expedition. And there was the girl. Rainey was not going toforget the girl. If the _Karluk_ ever came back? But then she would bean heiress. 

Rainey pulled himself up for a fool at the way his thoughts were racingas the doctor came back with a bottle of Scotch whisky and a siphon. Thecaptain had set out glasses and a pitcher of plain water from a rack. 

"I imagine you'll be the only one who'll take seltzer, Mr. Rainey, " saidthe doctor pleasantly, passing the bottle. "Captain Simms, I know, usesplain water. Siphons are scarce at sea. I suppose Mr. Lund does thesame. And I prefer a still drink. "

"Plain water for mine, " said Lund. 

"We're all charged, " said the doctor. "Here's to a betterunderstanding!"

"Glad to see you aboard, Mr. Rainey, " said the captain. 

Lund merely grunted. 

Rainey took a long pull at his glass. The cabin was hot, and he wasthirsty. The seltzer tasted a little flat--or the whisky was of anunusual brand, he fancied. And then inertia suddenly seized him. He lostthe use of his limbs, of his tongue, when he tried to call out. He sawthe doctor's sardonic eyes watching him as he strove to shake off alethargy that swiftly merged into dizziness. 

Dimly he heard the scrape of the captain's chair being pushed back. Fromfar off he heard Lund's big voice booming, "Here, what's this?" and thedoctor's cutting in, low and eager; then he collapsed, his head fallingforward on his outstretched arms. 

CHAPTER II

A DIVIDED COMPANY

It was not the first time that Rainey had been on a ship, a sailingship, and at sea. Whenever possible his play-hours had been spent on alittle knockabout sloop that he owned jointly with another man, both ofthem members of the Corinthian Club. While the _Curlew_ had made noblue-water voyages, they had sailed her more than once up and down theCalifornia coast on offshore regattas and pleasure-trips, and, lackingexperience in actual navigation, Rainey was a pretty handy sailorman foran amateur. 

So, as he came out of the grip of the drug that had been given him, slowly, with a brain-pan that seemed overstuffed with cotton and whichthrobbed with a dull persistent ache--with a throat that seemed to becoated with ashes, strangely contracted--a nauseated stomach--eyes thatsaw things through a haze--limbs that ached as if bruised--the soundsthat beat their way through his sluggish consciousness were familiarenough to place him almost instantly and aid his memory's flickeringfilm to reel off what had happened. 

As he lay there in a narrow bunk, watching the play of light that camethrough a porthole beyond his line of vision, noting in this erraticshuttling of reflected sunlight the roll and pitch of cabin walls, listening to the low boom of waves followed by the swash alongside thattold him the _Karluk_ was bucking heavy seas, a slow rage mastered him, centered against the doctor with the sardonic smile and Captain Simms, who Rainey felt sure had tacitly approved of the doctor's actions. 

He remembered Lund's exclamation of, "Here, what's this?"--the questionof a blind man who could not grasp what was happening--and acquittedhim. 

They had deliberately kidnapped him, shanghaied him, because they didnot choose to trust him, because they thought he might print the storyof the island treasure beach in his paper, or babble of it and start arush to the new strike of which he had seen proof in the gold duststreaming from the poke. 

He had been willing to suppress the yarn, Rainey reflected bitterly, hisintentions had been fair and square in this situation forced upon him, and they had not trusted him. They were taking no chances, he thought, and suddenly wondered what position the girl would take in the matter. He could not think of her approving it. Yet she would naturally sidewith her father, as she had done against Lund's accusations. And Raineysuspected that there was something back of Lund's charge of desertion. The girl's face, her graceful figure, the tones of her voice, clung inhis still palsied recollection a long time before he could dismiss itand get round to the main factor of his imprisonment--_what were theygoing to do with him?_

There was a fortune in sight. For gold, men forget the obligations oflife and law in civilization; they revert to savage type, and theirminds and actions are swayed by the primitive urge of lust. Treachery, selfishness, cruelty, crime breed from the shining particles even beforethey are in actual sight and touch. 

Rainey knew that. He had read many true yarns that had come down fromthe frozen North, in from the deserts and the mountains, tales of themining records of the West. 

He mistrusted the doctor. The man had drugged him. He was a man whoseprofession, where the mind was warped, belittled life. Captain Simms hadbeen charged with leaving a blind man on a broken floe. Lund was thetype whose passions left him ruthless. The crew--they would be bound byshares in the enterprise, a rough lot, daring much and caring little foranything beyond their own narrow horizons. The girl was the onlyredeeming feature of the situation. 

Was it because of her--it might be because of her specialpleading--that they had not gone further? Or were they still fightingthrough the heads, waiting until they got well out to sea before theydisposed of him, so there would be no chance of his telltale bodywashing up along the coast for recognition and search for clues? Hewondered whether any one had seen him go aboard the _Karluk_ withLund--any one who would remember it and mention the circumstance when hewas found to be missing. 

That might take a day or two. At the office they would wonder why hedidn't show up to cover his detail, because he had been steady in hiswork. But they would not suspect foul play at first. He had no immediatefamily. His landlady lodged other newspapermen, and was used to theirvagaries. And all this time the _Karluk_ would be thrashing north, wellout to sea, unsighted, perhaps, for all her trip, along that coast offogs. 

Rainey had disappeared, dropped out of sight. He would be a front-pagewonder for a day, then drop to paragraphs for a day or so more, andthat would be the end of it. 

But they had made him comfortable. He was not in a smelly forecastle, but in a bunk in a cabin that must open off the main room of theschooner. Why had they treated him with such consideration? He dozedoff, for all his wretchedness, exhausted by his efforts to untangle thesnarl. When he awoke again his mouth was glued together with thirst. 

The schooner was still fighting the sea--the wind, too, Raineyfancied--sailing close-hauled, going north against the trade. He fumbledfor his watch. It had run down. His head ached intolerably. Each hairseemed set in a nerve center of pain. But he was better. 

Back of his thirst lay hunger now, and the apathy that had held him toidle thinking had given way to an energy that urged him to action anddiscovery. 

As he sat up in his bunk, fully clothed as he had come aboard, the doorof his cabin opened and the doctor appeared, nodded coolly as he sawRainey moving, disappeared for an instant, and brought in a draft ofsome sort in a long glass. 

"Take this, " said Carlsen. "Pull you together. Then we'll get some foodinto you. "

The calm insolence of the doctor's manner, ignoring all that hadhappened, seemed to send all the blood in Rainey's body fuming to hisbrain. He took the glass and hurled its contents at Carlsen's face. Thedoctor dodged, and the stuff splashed against the cabin wall, only a fewdrops reaching Carlsen's coat, which he wiped off with his handkerchief, unruffled. 

"Don't be a damned fool, " he said to Rainey, his voice irritatinglyeven. "Are you afraid it's drugged? I would not be so clumsy. I couldhave given you a hypodermic while you slept, enough to keep youunconscious for as many hours as I choose--or forever. 

"I'll mix you another dose--one more--take it or leave it. Take it, andyou'll soon feel yourself again after Tamada has fed you. Then we'llthrash out the situation. Leave it, and I wash my hands of you. You cango for'ard and bunk with the men and do the dirty work. "

He spoke with the calm assumption of one controlling the schooner, Rainey noted, rather as skipper than surgeon. But Rainey felt that hehad made a fool of himself, and he took the second draft, which almostinstantly relieved him, cleansing his mouth and throat and, as hisheadache died down, clearing his brain. 

"Why did you drug me?" he demanded. "Pretty high-handed. I can make youpay for this. "

"Yes? How? When? We're well off Cape Mendocino, heading nor'west orthereabouts. Nothing between us and Unalaska but fog and deep water. Before we get back you'll see the payment in a different light. We'renot pirates. This was plain business. A million or more in sight. 

"Lund nearly spilled things as it was, raving the way he did. It's awonder some one didn't overhear him with sense enough to tumble. 

"We didn't take any chances. Rounded up the crew, and got out. The manwho's made a gold discovery thinks everybody else is watching him. It'sa genuine risk. If they followed us, they'd crowd us off the beach. Idon't suppose any one has followed us. If they have, we've lost them inthis fog. 

"But we didn't take any risks after Lund's blowing off. He might havedone it ashore before you brought him aboard. I don't think so. But hemight. And so might you, later. "

"I'd have given you my word. "

"And meant to keep it. But you'd have been an uncertain factor, a weaklink. You might have given it away in your sleep. You heard enough tofigure the general locality of the island when Lund blurted it out. Youknew too much. Suppose the _Karluk_ fought up to Kotzebue Bay and founda dozen power-vessels hanging about, waiting for us to lead them to thebeach? And we'd have worried all the way up, with you loose. You're anewspaperman. The suppression of this yarn would have obsessed you, lainon your reportorial conscience. 

"I don't suppose your salary is much over thirty a week, is it? Now, then, here you are in for a touch of real adventure, better thangleaning dock gossip, to a red-blooded man. If we win--and you saw thegold--_you_ win. We expect to give you a share. We haven't taken it upyet, but it'll be enough. More than you'd earn in ten years, likely, more than you'd be apt to save in a lifetime. We kidnapped you for yourown good. You're a prisoner _de luxe_, with the run of the ship. "

"I can work my passage, " said Rainey. He could see the force of thedoctor's argument, though he didn't like the man. He didn't trust thedoctor, though he thought he'd play fair about the gold. But it wasfunny, his assuming control. 

"Yachted a bit?" asked Carlsen. 

"Yes. "

"Can you navigate?"

Rainey thought he caught a hint of emphasis to this question. 

"I can learn, " he said. "Got a general idea of it. "

"Ah!" The doctor appeared to dismiss the subject with some relief. "Well, " he went on, "are you open to reason--and food? I'm sorry aboutyour friends and folks ashore, but you're not the first prodigal who hascome back with the fatted calf instead of hungry for it. "

"That part of it is all right, " said Rainey. There was no help for thesituation, save to make the most of it and the best. "But I'd like toask you a question. "

"Go ahead. Have a cigarette?"

Rainey would rather have taken it from any one else, but the whiff ofburning tobacco, as Carlsen lit up, gave him an irresistible craving fora smoke. Besides, it wouldn't do for the doctor to know he mistrustedhim. If he was to be a part of the ship's life, there was small sensein acting pettishly. He took the cigarette, accepted the light, andinhaled gratefully. 

"What's the question?" asked Carlsen. 

"You weren't on the last trip. You weren't in on the original deal. ButI find you doing all the talking, making me offers. You drugged me onyour own impulse. Where's the skipper? How does he stand in this matter?Why didn't he come to see me? What is your rating aboard?"

"You're asking a good deal for an outsider, it seems to me, Rainey. Icame to you partly as your doctor. But I speak for the captain and thecrew. Don't worry about that. "

"And Lund?" Rainey could not resist the shot. He had gathered that thedoctor resented Lund. 

Carlsen's eyes narrowed. 

"Lund will be taken care of, " he said, and, for the life of him, Raineycould not judge the statement for threat or friendly promise. "As for mystatus, I expect to be Captain Simms' son-in-law as soon as the trip isover. "

"All right, " said Rainey. Carlsen's announcement surprised him. Somehowhe could not place the girl as the doctor's fiancée. "I suppose thecaptain may mention this matter, " he queried, "to cement it?"

"He may, " replied Carlsen enigmatically. "Feel like getting up?"

Rainey rose and bathed face and hands. Carlsen left the cabin. The mainroom was empty when Rainey entered, but there was a place set at thetable. Through the skylight he noted, as he glanced at the telltalecompass in the ceiling, that the sun was low toward the west. 

The main cabin was well appointed in hardwood, with red cushions on thetransoms and a creeping plant or so hanging here and there. A canarychirped up and broke into rolling song. It was all homy, innocuous. Yethe had been drugged at the same table not so long before. And now he waspledged a share of ungathered gold. It was a far cry back to his desk inthe _Times_ office. 

A Japanese entered, sturdy, of white-clad figure, deft, polite, incurious. He had brought in some ham and eggs, strong coffee, slicedcanned peaches, bread and butter. He served as Rainey ate heartily, feeling his old self coming back with the food, especially with thecoffee. 

"Thanks, Tamada, " he said as he pushed aside his plate at last. 

"Everything arright, sir?" purred the Japanese. 

Rainey nodded. The "sir" was reassuring. He was accepted as a somebodyaboard the _Karluk_. Tamada cleared away swiftly, and Rainey felt forhis own cigarettes. He hesitated a little to smoke in the cabin, thinking of the girl, wondering whether she was on deck, where heintended to go. Some one was snoring in a stateroom off the cabin, andhe fancied by its volume it was Lund. 

It was a divided ship's company, after all. For he knew that Lund, handicapped with his blindness, would live perpetually suspicious ofSimms. And the doctor was against Lund. Rainey's own position was aparadox. 

He started for the companionway, and a slight sound made him turn, toface the girl. She looked at him casually as Rainey, to his annoyance, flushed. 

"Good afternoon, " said Rainey. "Are you going on deck?"

It was not a clever opening, but she seemed to rob him of wit, to anextent. He had yet to know how she stood concerning his presence aboard. Did she countenance the forcible kidnapping of him as a possibletattler? Or--?

"My father tells me you have decided to go with us, " she said, pleasantly enough, but none too cordially, Rainey thought. 

"Doctor Carlsen helped me to my decision. "

She did not seem to regard this as a thrust, but stood lightly swayingto the pitch of the vessel, regarding him with grave eyes of appraisal. 

"You have not been well, " she said. "I hope you are better. Have youeaten?"

Rainey began to think that she was ignorant of the facts. And he made uphis mind to ignore them. There was nothing to be gained by telling herthings against her father--much less against her fiancée, the doctor. 

"Thank you, I have, " he said. "I was going to look up Mr. Lund. "

The sentence covered a sudden change of mind. He no longer wanted to goon deck with the girl. They were not to be intimates. She was to marryCarlsen. He was an outsider. Carlsen had told him that. So she seemed toregard him, impersonally, without interest. It piqued him. 

"Mr. Lund is in the first mate's cabin, " said the girl, indicating adoor. "Mr. Bergstrom, who was mate, died at sea last voyage. DoctorCarlsen acts as navigator with my father, but he has another room. "

She passed him and went on deck. Carlsen was acting first mate as wellas surgeon. That meant he had seamanship. Also that they had taken in noreplacements, no other men to swell the little corporation offortune-hunters who knew the secret, or a part of it. It was unusual, but Rainey shrugged his shoulders and rapped on the door of the cabin. 

It took loud knocking to waken Lund. At last he roared a "Come in. "

Rainey found him seated on the edge of his bunk, dressed in hisunderclothes, his glasses in place. Rainey wondered whether he slept inthem. Lund's uncanny intuition seemed to read the thought. He tapped thelenses. 

"Hate to take them off, " he said. "Light hurts my eyes, though the opticnerve is dead. Seems to strike through. How're ye makin' out?"

Rainey gave Lund the full benefit of his blindness. The giant could nothave known what was in the doctor's mind, but he must have learnedsomething. Lund was not the type to be satisfied with half answers, andundoubtedly felt that he held a proprietary interest in the _Karluk_ byvirtue of his being the original owner of the secret. Rainey wonderedif he had sensed the doctor's attitude in that direction, an attitudeexpressed largely by the expression of Carlsen's face, always wearingthe faint shadow of a sneer. 

"You know they drugged me, " Rainey ended his recital of the interview hehad had with the doctor. 

"Knockout drops? I guessed it. That doctor's slick. Well, you've notmuch fault to find, have ye? Carlsen talked sense. Here you are on theroad to a fortune. I'll see yore share's a fair one. There's plenty. Itain't a bad billet you've fallen into, my lad. But I'll look out for ye. I'm sort of responsible for yore trip, ye see, matey. And I'll need ye. "

He lowered his voice mysteriously. 

"Yo're a writer, Mister Rainey. You've got brains. You can see which waya thing's heading. You've heard enough. I'm blind. I've bin done dirtonce aboard the _Karluk_, and I don't aim to stand for it ag'in. And Ihad my eyes, then. No use livin' in a rumpus. Got to keep watch. Got tokeep yore eyes open. 

"And I ain't got eyes. You have. Use 'em for both of us. I ain't askingye to take sides, exactly. But I've got cause for bein' suspicious. Idon't call the skipper _Honest_ Simms no more. And I ain't stuck on thatdoctor. He's too bossy. He's got the skipper under his thumb. Andthere's somethin' funny about the skipper. Notice ennything?"

"Why, I don't know him, " said Rainey. "He doesn't look extra well, whatI've seen of him. Only the once. "

"He's logey, " said Lund confidentially. "He ain't the same man. Mebbeit's his conscience. But that doctor's runnin' him. "

"He's going to marry the captain's daughter, " said Rainey. 

"Simms' daughter? Carlsen goin' to marry her? Ump! That may account forthe milk in the cocoanut. She's a stranger to me. Lived ashore with heruncle and aunt, they tell me. Carlsen was the family doctor. Now she'soff with her father. "

His face became crafty, and he reached out for Rainey's knee, found itas readily as if he had sight, and tapped it for emphasis. 

"That makes all the more reason for us lookin' out for things, matey, "he went on, almost in a whisper. "If they've played me once they may doit ag'in. And they've got the odds, settin' aside my eyes. But I canturn a trick or two. You an' me come aboard together. You give me ahand. Stick to me, an' I'll see you git yore whack. 

"I'll have yore bunk changed. You'll come in with me. An' we'll put onean' one together. We'll be mates. Treat 'em fair if they treat us fair. But don't forget they fixed yore grog. I had nothin' to do with that. Imay be stranded, but, if the tide rises--"

He set the clutch of his powerful fingers deep into Rainey's leg abovethe knee with a grip that left purple bruises there before the day wasover. 

"We two, matey, " he said. "Now you an' me'll have a tot of stuff thatain't doped. "

He moved about the little cabin with an astounding freedom andsureness, chuckling as he handled bottle and glasses and measured outthe whisky and water. 

"W'en yo're blind, " he said, ramming his pipe full of black tobacco, "they's other things comes to ye. I know the run of this ship, blindfold, you might say. I c'ud go aloft in a pinch, or steer her. Moregrog?"

But Rainey abstained after the first glass, though Lund went on loweringthe bottle without apparent effect. 

"So yo're a bit of a sailor?" the giant asked presently. "An' a scholar. You can navigate, I make no doubt?"

"I hope to get a chance to learn on the trip, " answered Rainey. "I knowthe general principles, but I've never tried to use a sextant. I'm goingto get the skipper to help me out. Or Carlsen. "

"Carlsen! What in hell does a doctor know about navigation?" demandedLund. 

Rainey told him what the girl had said, and the giant grunted. 

"I have my doubts whether they'll ever help ye, " he said. "Wish I could. But it 'ud be hard without my eyes. An' I've got no sextant an' no booko' tables. It's too bad. "

His disappointment seemed keen, and Rainey could not fathom it. Why hadboth Lund and Carlsen seemed to lay stress on this matter? Why was thedoctor relieved and Lund disappointed at his ignorance?

As they came out of the stateroom together, later, Lund reeking of theliquor he had absorbed, though remaining perfectly sober, his hand laidon Rainey's shoulder, perhaps for guidance but with a show offamiliarity, Rainey saw the girl looking at him with a glance in whichcontempt showed unveiled. It was plain that his intimacy with Lund wasnot going to advance him in her favor. 

CHAPTER III

TARGET PRACTISE

The _Karluk_ was an eighty-five-ton schooner, Gloster Fisherman type, with a length of ninety and a beam of twenty-five feet. Her enormousstretch of canvas, spread to the limit on all possible occasions byCaptain Simms, was offset by the pendulum of lead that made up her keel, and she could slide through the seas at twelve knots on her best pointof sailing--reaching--the wind abaft her beam. 

After Rainey had demonstrated at the wheel that he had the mastery ofher and had shown that he possessed sea-legs, a fair amount of seacraftand, what the sailors did not possess, initiative, Captain Simmsappointed him second mate. 

"We don't carry one as a rule, " the skipper said. "But it'll give you arating and the right to eat in the cabin. " He had not brought up thesubject of Rainey's kidnapping, and Rainey let it go. There was no usearguing about the inevitable. The rating and the cabin fare seemedoffered as an apology, and he was willing to accept it. 

Carlsen acted as first mate, and Rainey had to acknowledge himefficient. He fancied the man must have been a ship's surgeon, and sopicked up his seamanship. After a few days Carlsen, save for taking noonobservations with the skipper and working out the reckoning, left hisduties largely to Rainey, who was glad enough for the experience. Asailor named Hansen was promoted to acting-quartermaster, and relievedRainey. Carlsen spent most of his time attendant on the girl or chattingwith the hunters, with whom he soon appeared on terms of intimacy. 

The hunters esteemed themselves above the sailors, as they were, inintelligence and earning capacity. The forecastlemen acted, on occasion, as boat-steerers and rowers for the hunters, each of whom had his ownboat from which to shoot the cruising seals. 

There were six hunters and twelve sailors, outside of a generalroustabout and butt named "Sandy, " who cleaned up the forecastle and thehunters' quarters, where they messed apart, and helped Tamada, the cook, in the galley with his pots and dishes. But now there was no work inprospect for the hunters, and they lounged on deck or in the 'midshipquarters, spinning yarns or playing poker. They were after gold thistrip, not seals. 

"'Cordin' to the agreement, " Lund said to Rainey, "the gold's to besplit into a hundred shares. One for each sailorman, an' they chip infor the boy. Two for the hunters, two for the cook, four for Bergstrom, the first mate, who died at sea. Twenty for 'ship's share. ' Fifty sharesto be split between Simms an' me. "

"What's the 'ship's share'?" asked Rainey. 

"Represents capital investment. Matter of fact, it belongs to the gal, "said Lund. "Simms gave her the _Karluk_. It's in her name with theinsurance. "

"Then he and his daughter get forty-five shares, and you onlytwenty-five?"

"You got it right, " grinned Lund. "Simms is no philanthropist. It wa'n'tso easy for me to git enny one to go in with me, son. I ain't the firstman to come trailin' in with news of a strike. An' I had nothin' to showfor it. Not even a color of gold. Nothin' but the word of a dead Aleut, my own jedgment, an' my own sight of an island I never landed on. Matterof fact, Honest Simms was the only one who didn't laff at me outright. It was on'y his bad luck made him try a chance at gold 'stead of keepin'after pelts. 

"An' we had a hard an' tight agreement drawn up on paper, signed, witnessed an' recorded. 'Course it holds him as well as it holds me, buthe gits the long end of _that_ stick. W'en I read, or got it read to me, in the Seattle _News-Courier_, that the _Karluk_ was listed as 'Arrived'in San Francisco, it was all I could do to git carfare an' grub money. If I hadn't bin blind, an' some of 'em half-way human to'ards a man withhis lights out, I'd never have raised it. I'd have got here someways, matey, if I'd had to walk, but I'd have got here a bit late. Then I'dhave had to wait till Simms got back ag'in--an' mebbe starved to death. 

"But I'm here an' I've got some say-so. One thing, you're goin' to gitBergstrom's share. I don't give a damn where the doctor comes in. If hemarries the gal he'll git her twenty shares, ennyway. Though he ain'tmarried her yet. And I ain't through with Simms yet, " he added, with anemphasis that was a trifle grim, Rainey thought. 

"The crew, hunters an' sailors, don't seem over glad to see me back, "Lund went on. "Mebbe they figgered their shares 'ud be bigger. Mebbe thedoc's queered me. He's pussy-footin' about with 'em a good deal. ButI'll talk with you about that later. It's me an' you ag'in' the rest of'em, seems to me, Rainey. The doc's aimin' to be the Big Boss aboardthis schooner. He's got the skipper buffaloed. But not me, not by ajugful. "

He slammed his big fist against the side of the bunk so viciously thatit seemed to jar the cabin. The blow was typical of the man, Raineydecided. He felt for Lund not exactly a liking, but an attraction, acertain compelled admiration. The giant was elemental, with a drivingforce inside him that was dynamic, magnetic. What a magnificent piratehe would have made, thought Rainey, looking at his magnificentproportions and considering the crude philosophies that cropped out inhis talk. 

"I'm in life for the loot of it, Rainey, " Lund declared. "Food an' drinkto tickle my tongue an' fill my belly, the woman I happen to want, an'bein' able to buy ennything I set my fancy on. The answer to that isGold. With it you can buy most enny thing. Not all wimmen, I'll grantyou that. Not the kind of woman I'd want for a steady mate. Thet's onething I've found out can't be bought, my son, the honor of a goodwoman. An' thet's the sort of woman I'm lookin' for. 

"I reckon yo're raisin' yore eyebrows at that?" he challenged Rainey. "But the other kind, that'll sell 'emselves, 'll sell you jest asquick--an' quicker. I'd wade through hell-fire hip-deep to git the rightkind--an' to hold her. An' I'll buck all hell to git what's comin' to mein the way of luck, or go down all standin' tryin'. This is my gold, an'I'm goin' to handle it. If enny one tries to swizzle me out of it I'mgoin' to swizzle back, an' you can lay to that. Not forgettin' them thatstands by me. "

Between Lund and Simms there existed a sort of armed truce. No openreference was made to the desertion of Lund on the floe. But Rainey knewthat it rankled in Lund's mind. The five, Peggy Simms, her father, Carlsen, Lund and Rainey, ostensibly messed together, but Rainey'sduties generally kept him on deck until Carlsen had sufficientlycompleted his own meal to relieve him. By that time the girl and thecaptain had left the table. 

Lund invariably waited for Rainey. Tamada kept the food hot for them. And served them, Lund making good play with spoon or fork and a piece ofbread, the Japanese cutting up his viands conveniently beforehand. 

To Rainey, Tamada seemed the hardest worked man aboard ship. He hadthree messes to cook and he was busy from morning until night, efficient, tireless and even-tempered. The crew, though theyacknowledged his skill, were Californians, either by birth or adoption, and the racial prejudice against the Japanese was apparent. 

A week of good wind was followed by dirty weather. The _Karluk_ proved agood fighter, though her headway was materially lessened by contrarywind and sea, and the persistence and increasing opposition of the stormseemed to have a corresponding effect upon Captain Simms. 

He grew daily more irritable and morose, even to his daughter. Only thedoctor appeared able to get along with him on easy terms, and Raineynoticed that, to Carlsen, the skipper seemed conciliatory even todeference. 

Peggy Simms watched her father with worried eyes. The curious, tarnishedlook of his tanned skin grew until the flesh seemed continually dry andof an earthy color; his lips peeled, and more than once he shook as ifwith a chill. 

On the eleventh day out, Rainey went below in the middle of theafternoon for his sea-boots. The gale had suddenly strengthened and, under reefs, the _Karluk_ heeled far over until the hissing seas floodedthe scuppers and creamed even with the lee rail. In the main cabin hefound Simms seated in a chair with his daughter leaning over him, speaking to her in a harsh, complaining voice. 

"No, you can't do a thing for me, " he was saying. "It's this sciatica. I've got to get Carlsen. "

As Rainey passed through to his own little stateroom neither of themnoticed him, but he saw that the captain was shivering, his handspicking almost convulsively at the table-cloth. 

"Where's Carlsen, curse him!" Rainey heard through his cabin partition. "Tell him I can't stand this any longer. He's got to help me. Got to. _Got to. _"

As Rainey appeared, walking heavily in his boots, the girl looked up. Her father was slumped in his chair, his face buried on his folded arms. The girl glanced at him doubtfully, apparently uncertain whether to goherself to find Carlsen or stay with her father. 

"Anything I can do, Miss Simms? Your father seems quite ill. "

The hesitation of the girl even to speak to him was very plain toRainey. Suddenly she threw up her chin. 

"Kindly find Doctor Carlsen, " she ordered, rather than requested. "Askhim to come as soon as he can. I--" She turned uncertainly to herfather. 

"Can I help you to get him into the cabin?" asked Rainey. 

She thanked him with lips, not eyes, and he assisted her to shift thealmost helpless man into his room and bunk. He was like a stuffed sackbetween them, save that his body twitched. While Rainey took most of theweight, he marveled at the strength of the slender girl and the way inwhich she applied it. Simms seemed to have fainted, to be on the vergeof unconsciousness or even utter collapse. Rainey felt his wrist, andthe pulse was almost imperceptible. 

"I'll get the doctor immediately, " he said. 

She nodded at him, chafing her father's hands, her own face pale, and alook of anxious fear in her eyes. 

"Mighty funny sort of sciatica, " Rainey told himself as he hurriedforward. He knew where Carlsen was, in the hunters' cozy quarters, playing poker. From the chips in front of him he had been winningheavily. 

"The skipper's ill, " said Rainey. "No pulse. Almost unconscious. "

Carlsen raised his eyebrows. 

"Didn't know you were a physician, " he said. "Just one of his spells. I'll finish this hand. Too good to lay down. The skipper can wait foronce. "

The hunters grinned as Carlsen took his time to draw his cards, make hisbets and eventually win the pot on three queens. 

"I wonder what your real game is?" Rainey asked himself as he affectedto watch the play. According to his own announcement Carlsen wasdeliberately neglecting the father of the girl he was to marry and atthe same time slighting the captain to his own men. Carlsen drew in hischips and leisurely made a note of the amount. 

"Quite a while yet to settling-day, " he said to the players. "Luck mayswing all round the compass before then, boys. All right, Rainey, youneedn't wait. "

Rainey ignored the omitted "Mister. " He held the respect of the sailors, since he had shown his ability, but he knew that the hunters regardedhim with an amused tolerance that lacked disrespect by a small margin. To them he was only the amateur sailor. Rainey fancied that the doctorhad contributed to this attitude, and it did not lessen his scoreagainst Carlsen. 

The captain did not make his appearance for that day, the next, or thenext. The men began to roll eyes at one another when they asked afterhis health. Carlsen kept his own counsel, and Peggy Simms spent most ofher time in the main cabin with her eyes always roving to her father'sdoor. Rainey noticed that Tamada brought no food for the sick man. Carlsen was the apparent controller of the schooner. Lund was quick tosense this. 

"We got to block that Carlsen's game, " he said to Rainey. "There's anigger in the woodpile somewhere an' you an' me got to uncover him, matey, afore we reach Bering Strait, or you an' me'll finish this tripsquattin' on the rocks of one of the Four Mountain Islands makin' facesat the gulls. 

"I wish you c'ud git under the skin of that Jap. No use tryin' to git inwith the crew or the hunters. They're ag'in' both of us--leastwisethe hunters are. The hands don't count. They're jest plain hash. "

Lund spoke with an absolute contempt of the sailors that wascharacteristic of the man. 

"You think they'd put a blind man ashore that way?" asked Rainey. 

"Carlsen would. In a minnit. He'd argy that you c'ud look out for me, seein' as we are chums. As for you, you've bin useful, but you can'tnavigate, an' you've helped train Hansen to yore work. You were in theway at the start, an' he'd jest as soon git rid of you that road as ennyother. He don't intend you to have Bergstrom's share, by a jugful. "

Lund grinned as he spoke, and Rainey felt a little chill raisegooseflesh all over his body. It was not exactly fear, but--

"They don't look on us two as _mascots_, " went on Lund. "But to git backto that Jap. Forewarned is forearmed. He ain't over an' above liked, butthey've got used to him goin' back an' forth with their grub, an' theysort of despise him for a yellow-skinned coolie. 

"Now Tamada ain't no coolie. I know Japs. He's a cut above his job. Cooks well enough for a swell billet ashore if he wanted it. An' thereain't much goin' on that Tamada ain't wise to. See if you can't get nextto him. Trubble is he's too damn' neutral. He knows he's safe, becozhe's cook an' a damn' good one. But he's wise to what Carlsen's playin'at. 

"Carlsen don't care for man, woman, God, or the devil. Neither do I, " heconcluded. "An' I've got a card or two up my sleeve. But I'd sure liketo git a peep at what the doc's holdin'. "

The storm blew out, and there came a spell of pleasant weather, with the_Karluk_ gliding along, logging a fair rate where a less well-designedvessel would barely have found steerage way, riding on an almost evenkeel. Simms was still confined to his cabin, though now his daughtertook him in an occasional tray. 

Except for observations and the details of navigation, Carlsen left theschooner to Rainey. They were well off the coast, out of the fogs, apparently alone upon the lonely ocean that ran sparkling to the farhorizon. It was warm, there was little to do, the sailors, as well asthe hunters, spent most of their time lounging on the deck. 

Save at meal-times, Carlsen, for one who had announced himself as anaccepted lover, neglected the girl, who had devoted herself to herfather. Yet she seldom went into her cabin, never remained there long, and time must have hung heavily on her hands. A girl of her spirit musthave resented such treatment, Rainey imagined, but reminded himself itwas none of his business. 

Lund hung over the rail, smoking, or paced the deck, always close toRainey. The manner in which he went about the ship was almost uncanny. Except that his arms were generally ahead of him when he moved, hishands, with their woolly covering of red hair, lightly touching boom orrope or rail, he showed no hesitation, made no mistakes. 

He no longer shuffled, as he had on shore, but moved with a pantherlikedexterity, here and there at will. When the breeze was steady he wouldeven take the wheel and steer perfectly by the "feel of the wind" on hischeek, the slap of it in the canvas, or the creak of the rigging to tellhim if he was holding to the course. And he took an almost childishdelight in proclaiming his prowess as helmsman. 

The booms were stayed out against swinging in flaws and the roll of thesea, and Lund strode back and forth behind Rainey, who had the wheel. The hunters were grouped about Carlsen, who, seated on the skylight, wastelling them something at which they guffawed at frequent intervals. 

"Spinnin' them some of his smutty yarns, " growled Lund, halting in hispromenade. "Bad for discipline, an' bad for us. He's the sort offine-feathered bird that wouldn't give those chaps a first look ashore. Gittin' in solid with 'em that way is a bad steer. You can't handle aman you make a pal of, w'en he ain't yore rank. "

"Carlsen's slack, but he's a good sailorman, " said Rainey casually. 

"Damn' sight better sailorman than he is doctor, " retorted Lund. "Hearhim the other mornin' w'en I asked him if he c'ud give me somethin' tohelp my eyes hurtin'? 'I'm no eye specialist, ' sez he. 'Try some boracicacid, my man. ' I wouldn't put ennything in my eyes _he'd_ give me, youcan lay to that. He'd give me vitriol, if he thought I'd use it. Iwouldn't let him treat a sick cat o' mine. He's the kind o' doctor thatuses his title to give him privileges with the wimmin. I know his sort. "

Rainey wondered why Lund had asked Carlsen for a lotion if he did notmean to use it, but he did not provoke further argument. Lund was goingon. 

"He don't do the skipper enny good, thet's certain. "

"Captain Simms seems to believe in him, " answered Rainey. He wonderedhow much of Carlsen's increasing dominance over the skipper Lund hadnoticed. 

"Simms is Carlsen's dog!" exploded Lund. "The doc's got somethin' onhim, mark me. Carlsen's a bad egg an', w'en he hatches, you'll see abuzzard. An' you wait till he's needed as a doctor on somethin' thattakes more'n a few kind words or a lick out a bottle. "

There was a stir among the hunters. Lund turned his spectacled eyes intheir direction. 

"What are they up to now?" he queried. "Goin' to play poker? Wish I hadmy eyes. I'd show 'em how to read the pips. "

Hansen came aft, offering to take the wheel. 

"They bane goin' to shute at targets, " he said. "Meester Carlsen he putup prizes. For rifle an' shotgun. Thought you might like to watch it, sir. "

Rainey gave over the spokes and went to the starboard rail with Lund, watching the preparations between fore and main masts for thecompetition, and telling Lund what was happening. Carlsen gave out someshotgun cartridges from cardboard boxes, twelve to each of the sixhunters. 

"Hunters pay for their own shells, " said Lund. "But they buy 'em fromthe ship. Mate's perkisite. They usually have some shells on hand forthe rifles, but the paper cases o' the shotgun cartridges suck up thedamp an' they keep better in the magazine in the cabin. What theyshootin' at? Bottles?"

Sandy, the roustabout, had been requisitioned to toss up empty bottles, and those who failed cursed him for a poor thrower. A hunter namedDeming made no misses, and secured first prize of ten dollars in gold, with a man named Beale scoring two behind him, and getting half thatamount from Carlsen. 

Then came the test with the rifles. The weapons were all of the samecaliber, well oiled, and in perfect condition. As Lund had said, each ofthe hunters had a few shells in his possession, but they lacked thetotal of six dozen by a considerable margin. 

Carlsen went below for the necessary ammunition while the target wascompleted and set in place. A keg had been rigged with a weightunderslung to keep it upright, and a tin can, painted white, set on ashort spar in one end of the keg. A light line was attached to a bridle, and the mark lowered over the stern, where it rode, bobbing in the tailof the schooner's wake, thirty fathoms from the taffrail where the crowdgathered. 

Carlsen, returning, ordered Hansen to steer fine. He gave eachcompetitor a limit of ten seconds for his aim, contributing an elementof chance that made the contest a sporting one. Without the counting, each would have deliberately waited for the most favorable moment whenthe schooner hung in the trough and the white can was backed by greenwater. As it was, it made a far-from-easy mark, slithering, lurching, dipping as the _Karluk_ slid down a wave or met a fresh one, the canoften blurred against the blobs of foam. 

More bullets hit the keg than the can, and Carlsen was often called uponas umpire. But the tin gradually became ragged and blotched where thesteel-jacketed missiles tore through. Beale and Deming both had fiveclean, undisputed hits, tying for first prize. Beale offered to shoot itoff with six more shells apiece, and Deming consented. 

"Can't be done, " declared Carlsen. "Not right now, anyway. I gave outthe last shell there was in the magazine. If there are any more theskipper's got them stowed away, and I can't disturb him. "

"Derned funny, " said Deming, "a sealer shy on cartridges! Lucky we ain'tworryin' about thet sort of a cargo. "

"Probably plenty aboard somewhere, " said Carlsen, "but I don't knowwhere they are. Sorry to break up the shooting. You boys have got mebeaten on rifles and shotguns, " he went on, producing from his hippocket a flat, effective-looking automatic pistol of heavy caliber. "Howare you on small arms?"

The hunters shook their heads dubiously. 

"Never use 'em, " said Deming. "Never could do much with that kind, ennyhow. Give me a revolver, an' I might make out to hit a whale, if hewas close enough, but not with one o' them. "

"Not much difference, " said, Carlsen. "Any of you got revolvers?"

No one spoke. It was against the unwritten laws of a vessel for pistolsto be owned forward of the main cabin. Beale finally answered for therest. 

"Nary a pistol, sir. "

"Then, " said Carlsen, "I'll give you an exhibition myself. Any bottlesleft? Beale, will you toss them for me?"

There were eight shots in the automatic, and Carlsen smashed sevenbottles in mid-air. He missed the last, but retrieved himself bybreaking it as it dipped in the wake. The hunters shouted theirappreciation. 

"Break all of 'em?" Lund asked Rainey. "Enny bottles left at all?"

He walked toward the taffrail, addressing Carlsen. 

"Kin you shoot by _sound_ as well as by sight, Doc?" he challenged. 

"I fancy not, " said Carlsen. 

"If I had my eyes I'd snapshoot ye for a hundred bucks, " said Lund. "Asit is, I might target one or two. Rainey, have some one run a line, head-high, an' fix a bottle on it, will ye? I ain't got a gun o' my own, Doc, " he continued, "will you lend me yours?" Carlsen filled his clipand Lund turned toward Rainey, who was rigging the target. 

"I'll want you to tap it with a stick, " he said. "Signal-flag staff'lldo fine. "

Rainey got the slender bamboo and stood by. Lund felt for the cord, passed his fingers over the suspended bottle and stepped off five paces, hefting the automatic to judge its balance. 

"Ruther have my own gun, " he muttered. "All right, tetch her up, Rainey. "

Rainey tapped the bottle on the neck and it gave out a little tinkle, lost immediately in the crash of splintering glass as the bottle, hitfairly in the torn label, broke in half. 

"How much left?" asked Lund. "Half? Tetch it up. "

Again he fired and again the bullet found the mark, leaving only theneck of the bottle still hanging. Lund grinned. 

"Thet's all, " he said. "Jest wanted to show ye what a blind man can do, if he's put to it. "

There was little applause. Carlsen took his gun in silence and movedforward with the hunters and the onlookers, disappearing below. Raineytook the wheel over from Hansen and ordered him forward again. 

"Given 'em something to talk about, " chuckled Lund. "Carlsen wanted toshow off his fancy shootin'. Wal, I've shown 'em I ain't entirelywrecked if I ain't carryin' lights. An' I slipped more'n one over onCarlsen at that. "

Rainey did not catch his entire meaning and said nothing. 

"Did you get wise to the play about the shells?" asked Lund. "A smarttrick, though Deming almost tumbled. Carlsen got those dumb fools ofhunters to fire away every shell they happened to have for'ard. If themagazine's empty, I'll bet Carlsen knows where they's plenty moreshells, if we ever needed 'em bad. But now those rifles an' shotgunsain't no more use than so many clubs--_not to the hunters_. An' he'sfound out they ain't got enny pistols. _He's_ got one, an' shows 'em howstraight he shoots, jest in case there should be enny trubble between'em. Plays both ends to the middle, does Carlsen. Slick! But he ain'twon the pot. They's a joker in this game. Mebbe he holds it, mebbe not. "

He nodded mysteriously, well pleased with himself. 

"Don't suppose _you_ brought a gun along with ye?" he asked Rainey. "Might come in handy. "

"I wasn't expecting to stay, " Rainey replied dryly, "or I might have. "

Lund laughed heartily, slapping his leg. 

"That's a good un, " he declared. "It would have bin a good idea, though. It sure pays to go heeled when you travel with strangers. "

CHAPTER IV

THE BOWHEAD

Captain Simms appeared again in the cabin and on deck, but he was notthe same man. His illness seemed to have robbed him permanently of whatwas left him of the spring of manhood. It was as if his juices had beensucked from his veins and arteries and tissues, leaving him flabby, irresolute, compared to his former self. Even as Lund shadowed Rainey, so Simms shadowed Carlsen. 

The fine weather vanished, snuffed out in an hour and, day after day, the _Karluk_ flung herself at mocking seas that pounded her bows withblows that sounded like the noise of a giant's drum. The sun was neverseen. Through daylight hours the schooner wrestled with the elements ina ghastly, purplish twilight, lifting under double reefs over greatwaves that raised spuming crests to overwhelm her, and were ridden down, hissing and roaring, burying one rail and covering the deck to thehatches with yeasty turmoil. 

The _Karluk_ charged the stubborn fury of the gale, rolling from side toside, lancing the seas, gaining a little headway, losing leeway, fighting, fighting, while every foot of timber, every fathom of rope, groaned and creaked perpetually, but endured. 

To Rainey, this persistent struggle--as he himself controlled theschooner, legs far astride, his oilskins dripping, his feet awash to theankles, spume drenching and whipping him, the wind a lash--broughtexultation and a sense of mastery and confidence such as he had neverbefore held suggestion of. To guide the ship, constantly to baffle thesea and wind, the turbulence, buffeting bows and run and counter, smashing at the rudder, leaping always like a pack of yappinghounds--this was a thing that left the days of his water-front detailfar behind. 

And then he had thought himself in the whirl of things! Even as Simmsseemed to be declining, so Rainey felt that he was coming into thefulness of strength and health. 

Lund was ever with him. Sometimes the girl would come up on deck in herown waterproofs and stand against the rail to watch the storm, silent asfar as the pair were concerned. And presently Carlsen would come frombelow or forward and stand to talk with her until she was tired of thedeck. 

They did not seem much like lovers, Rainey fancied. They lacked thelittle intimacies that he, though he made himself somewhat of anautomaton at the wheel, could not have failed to see. If the girlslipped, Carlsen's hand would catch and steady her by the arm; never goabout her waist. And there was no especial look of welcome in her facewhen the doctor came to her. 

Carlsen seldom took over the wheel. Rainey did more than his share fromsheer love of feeling the control. But one day, at a word from thegirl, Carlsen and she came up to Rainey as he handled the spokes. 

"I'll take the wheel a while, Rainey, " said the doctor. 

Rainey gave it up and went amidships. Out of the tail of his eye hecould see that the girl was pleading to handle the ship, and thatCarlsen was going to let her do so. 

Rainey shrugged his shoulders. It was Carlsen's risk. It was no child'splay in that weather to steer properly. The _Karluk_, with her narrowbeam, was lithe and active as a great cat in those waves. It took notonly strength, but watchfulness and experience to hold the course in thewelter of cross-seas. 

Lund, whose recognition of voices was perfect, moved amidships as soonas Carlsen and Peggy Simms came aft. There was no attempt at disguisingthe fact that the schooner's afterward was a divided company and, savefor the fact of his blindness tempering the action, the manner of Lund'sshowing them his back and deliberately walking off would have been adeliberate insult. 

Not to the girl, Rainey thought. At first he had considered Lund'scharacter as comparatively simple--and brutal--but he had qualifiedthis, without seeming consciousness, and he felt that Lund would neverdeliberately insult a woman--any sort of woman. He was beginning to feelsomething more than an admiration for Lund's strength; a liking for theman himself had, almost against his will, begun to assert itself. 

They stood together by the weather-rail. It was still Rainey'sdeck-watch, and at any moment Carlsen might relinquish the wheel back tohim as soon as the girl got tired. Suddenly shouts sounded from forward, a medley of them, indistinct against the quartering wind. Sandy, theroustabout, came dashing aft along the sloping deck, catching clumsilyat rail and rope to steady himself, flushed with excitement, almosthysterical with his news. 

"A bowhead, sir!" he cried when he saw Rainey. "And killers after him!Blowin' dead ahead!"

Beyond the bows Rainey could see nothing of the whale, that must havesounded in fear of the killers, but he saw half a dozen scythe-like, black fins cutting the water in streaks of foam, all abreast, their highdorsals waving, wolves of the sea, hunting for the gray bowhead whale, to force its mouth open and feast on the delicacy of its living tongue. So Lund told him in swift sentences while they waited for the whale tobroach. 

"Ha'f the time the bowheads won't even try an' git away, " said Lund. "Lie atop, belly up, plain jellied with fear while the killers help'emselves. Ha'f the bowheads you git have got chunks bitten out of theirtongues. If they're nigh shore when the killers show up the whales'llslide way out over the rocks an' strand 'emselves. "

Rainey glanced aft. Sandy had carried his warning to Carlsen and thegirl, and now was craning over the lee rail, knee-deep in the wash, trying to see something of the combat. Peggy Simms' lithe figure wasleaning to one side as she, too, gazed ahead, though she still paidattention to her steering and held the schooner well up, her face brightwith excitement, wet with flying brine, wisps of yellow hair streamingfree in the wind from beneath the close grip of her woolentam-o'-shanter bonnet of scarlet. Carlsen was pointing out the racingfins of the killers. 

"Bl-o-ows!" started the deep voice of a lookout, from where sailors andhunters had grouped in the bows to witness this gladiatorial combatbetween sea monsters, staged fittingly in a sea that was running wild. Rainey strained his gaze to catch the steamy spiracle and the outthrustof the great head. 

"_Bl-o-ows!_" The deep voice almost leaped an octave in a sudden shrillof apprehension. Other voices mingled with his in a clamor of dismay. 

"Look out! Oh, look out! Dead ahead!"

The enormous bulk of the whale had appeared, not to spout, but to liebelly up, rocking on the surface with fins outspread, paralyzed withterror, directly in the course of the _Karluk_, while toward it, intentonly on their blood lust, leaped the killers, thrusting at its head asthe schooner surged down. In that tremendous sea the impact would becertain to mean the staving in of something forward, perhaps thespringing of a butt. 

"Hard a lee!" yelled Rainey. "Up with her! Up!"

It was desire to vent his own feelings, rather than necessity for thecommand, that made Rainey yell the order, for he could see the girlstriving with the spokes, Carlsen lending his strength to hers. Thesheets were well flattened, the wind almost abeam, and there was no needto change the set of fore and main. 

Forward, the men jumped to handle the headsails. The _Karluk_ started tospin about on its keel, instinct to the changing plane of the rudder. But the waves were running tremendously high, and the wind blowing withgreat force, the water rolling in great mountains of sickly greenishgray, topped with foam that blew in a level scud. 

As the schooner hung in a deep trough, the wind struck at her, bows on. With the gale suddenly spilled out of them, the topsails lashed andshivered, and the fore broke loose with the sharp report of a gunshotand disappeared aft in the smother. 

Rainey saw one huge billow rising, curving, high as the gaff of themain, it seemed to him, as he grasped at the coil of the main halyards. Down came the tons of water, booming on the deck that bent under theblow, spilling in a great cataract that swashed across the deck. 

His feet were swept from under him, for a moment he seemed to swinghorizontal in the stream, clutching at the halyards. The sea struck theopposite rail with a roar that threatened to tear it away, piling up andthen seething overboard. 

CHAPTER V

RAINEY SCORES

With it went a figure. Rainey caught sight of a ghastly face, a mouththat shouted vainly for help in the pandemonium, and was instantlystoppered with strangling brine, pop-eyes appealing in awful fright asSandy was washed away in the cascade. The halyards were held on the pinwith a turn and twist that Rainey swiftly loosened, lifting the coilfree, making a fast loop, and thrusting head and arms through it as heflung himself after the roustabout. 

Even as he dived he heard the bellow of Lund, knowing instinctively theperil of the schooner by its actions, though ignorant of the accident. 

"Back that jib! Back it, blast yore eyes! Ba-ck--"

Then Rainey was clubbing his way through the race of water to where heglimpsed an upflung arm. Sandy was in oilskins and sea-boots, he hadhardly a chance to save himself, however expert. And it flashed overRainey's mind that, like many sailors, the lad had boasted that he couldnot swim. His boots would pull him under as soon as the force of thewaves, that were tossing him from crest to crest, should be suspended. Rainey himself was borne on their thrust, clogged by his own equipment, linked to life only by the halyard coil. 

A great bulk wallowed just before him, the helpless body of the bowheadwhale, the killers darting in a mad mêlée for its head. Then a figurewas literally hurled upon the slippery mass of the mammal, its graybelly plain in the welter, a living raft against which the waves brokeand tossed their spray. 

Clawing frantically, Sandy clutched at the base of the enormous pectoralfin, clinging with maniacal strength, mad with fear. Striking out tolittle purpose, save to help buoy himself, blinded by the flying scudand broken crests, Rainey felt himself upreared, swept impotently on andslammed against the slimy hulk, just close enough to Sandy to grasp himby the collar, as the whale, stung by a killer's tearing at its oilytongue, flailed with its fin and the two of them slid down its body, deep under water. 

Rainey fought against the suffocation and the fierce desire to gasp andrelieve his tortured lungs. The lad's weight seemed to be carrying himdown as if he was a thing of lead, but Rainey would not relax his grip. He could not. He had centered all his energy upon the desire to saveSandy, and his nerve centers were still tense to that last consciousdemand. 

There came a swift, painful constriction of his chest that his failingsenses interpreted only as the end of things. Then his head came outinto the blessed air and he gulped what he could, though half of it waswater. 

The _Karluk_ was into the wind and they were in what little lee therewas, dragging aft at the end of the halyards, being fetched in towardthe rail by the mighty tugs of Lund, a weird sight to Rainey's smartingeyes as he caught sight of the giant, with red hair uncovered, his beardwhipping in the wind, his black glasses still in place, making some sortof a blessed monster out of him. 

Rainey had his left fist welded to the line, his right was set inSandy's collar, and Sandy's death clutch had twined itself into Rainey'soilskins, though the lad was limp, and his face, seen through the wateryfilm that streamed over it, set and white. 

A dozen arms shot down to grasp him. He felt the iron grip of Lund uponhis left forearm, almost wrenching his arm from its socket as he wasinhauled, caught at by body and legs and deposited on the deck of theschooner, that almost instantly commenced to go about upon its formercourse. Again he heard the bellow of the blind giant, as if it had beena continuation of the order shouted as he had gone overboard. 

"Ba-ack that jib to win'ard! Ba-ck it, you swabs!"

The _Karluk_ came about more smartly this time, swinging on the upheavalof a wave and rushing off with ever-increasing speed. Lund bent overhim, asking him with a note that Rainey, for all his exhaustion, interpreted as one of real anxiety:

"How is it with you, matey? Did ye git lunged up?"

Rainey managed to shake his head and, with Lund's boughlike arm forsupport, got to his feet, winded, shaken, aching from his pounding andthe crash against the whale. 

"Good man!" cried Lund, thwacking him on the shoulder and holding him upas Rainey nearly collapsed under the friendly accolade. 

Sandy was lying face down, one hunter kneeling across him, kneading hisribs to bellows action, lifting his upper body in time to the pressure, while another worked his slack arms up and down. 

"I tank he's gone, " said Hansen. "Swallowed a tubful. "

"That was splendid, Mr. Rainey! Wonderful! It was brave of you!"

Peggy Simms stood before Rainey, clinging to the mainstays, a differentgirl to the one that he had known. Her red lips were apart, showing theclean shine of her teeth, above her glowing cheeks her gray eyessparkled with friendly admiration, one slender wet hand was held outeagerly toward him. 

"Why, " said Rainey, in that embarrassment that comes when one knows hehas done well, yet instinctively seeks to disclaim honors, "any onewould have done that. I happened to be the only one to see it. "

"I'm not so sure of that, " replied the girl, and Rainey thought her lipcurled contemptuously as she glanced toward Carlsen at the wheel. YetCarlsen, he fancied, had full excuse for not having made the attempt, busied as he had been adding needed strength to the wheel. 

"Oh, it was not what he did, or failed to do, " said the girl, and thistime there was no mistaking the fact that she emphasized her voice withcontempt and made sure that it would carry to Carlsen. "He said itwasn't worth while. "

Her eyes flashed and then she made a visible effort to control herself. "But it was very brave of you, and I want to ask your pardon, " sheconcluded, with the crimson of her cheeks flooding all her face beforeshe turned away, and made abruptly for the companion. 

A little bewildered, the touch of her slim but strong fingers stillsensible to his own, Rainey went to the wheel. 

"Shall I take it over, Mr. Carlsen?" he asked. "It's my watch. "

Carlsen surveyed him coolly. Either he pretended not to have heard thegirl's innuendo or it failed to get under his skin. 

"You'd better get into some dry togs, Rainey, " he said. "And I'llprescribe a stiff jorum of grog-hot. Take your time about it. " Rainey, conscious of a wrenched feeling in his side, a growing nausea andweakness, thanked him and took the advice. Half an hour later, save fora general soreness, he felt too vigorous to stay below, and went on deckagain. Sandy had been taken forward. He encountered the hunter, Deming, and asked after the roustabout. 

"Born to be hanged, " answered the hunter with more friendliness than hehad ever exhibited. "They pumped it out of him, and got his own pump toworkin'. He'll be as fit as a fiddle presently. Asking for you. "

"I'll see him soon, " said Rainey, and again offered relief to Carlsen, which the doctor this time accepted. 

"Miss Simms misunderstood me, Rainey, " he said easily. "My intent was, that Sandy could never stay on top in those seas, and that it was idleto send a valuable man after a lout who was as good as dead. If ithadn't been for the whale you'd never have landed him. And the killersgot the whale, " he added, with his cynical grin. 

So he had overheard. Rainey wondered whether the girl would accept theamended statement if it was offered. At its best interpretation it wascallous. 

When Hansen took over the watch Rainey went below to Sandy. Lund haddisappeared, but he found the giant in the triangular forecastle bySandy's bunk. 

"That you, Rainey?" Lund asked as he heard the other's tread. Then hedropped his voice to a whisper:

"The lad's grateful. Make the most of it. If he wants to spillennything, git all of it. "

But Sandy seemed able to do nothing but grin sheepishly. He was halfdrunk with the steaming potion that had been forced down him. 

"I'll see you later, Mister Rainey, " he finally stammered out. "See youlater, sir. You--I--"

Lund suddenly nudged Rainey in the ribs. 

"Never mind now, " he whispered. 

A sailor had come into the forecastle with an extra blanket for Sandy, contributed from the hunters' mess. 

"That's all right, Sandy, " said Rainey. "Better try to get some sleep. "

The roustabout had already dropped off. The seaman touched his temple inan old-fashioned salute. 

"That was a smart job you did, sir, " he said to Rainey. 

The latter went aft with Lund through the hunters' quarters. They wereseated under the swinging lamp which had been lit in the gloom of thegale, playing poker, as usual. But all laid down their cards as Raineyappeared. 

"Good work, sir!" said one of them, and the rest chimed in withexpressions that warmed Rainey's heart. He felt that he had won his wayinto their good-will. They were human, after all, he thought. 

"Glad to have you drop in an' gam a bit with us, or take a hand in agame, sir, " added Deming. 

Rainey escaped, a trifle embarrassed, and passed through the alley thatwent by the cook's domain into the main cabin. Tamada was at work, butturned a gleam of slanting eyes toward Rainey as they passed the opendoor. The main cabin was empty. 

"Come into my room, " suggested Lund. "I want to talk with you. "

He stuffed his pipe and proffered a drink before he spoke. 

"Best day's work you've done in a long while, matey, " he said quietly. "Take Deming's offer up, an' mix in with them hunters. An' pump thetkid, Sandy. Pump him dry. He'll know almost as much as Tamada, an' he'llcome through with it easier. "

"Just what are you afraid of?" asked Rainey. 

"Son, " said Lund simply, "I'm afraid of nothing. But they're primed forsomethin', under Carlsen. We'll be makin' Unalaska ter-morrer or thenext day. Here's hopin' it's the next. An' we've got to know what toexpect. Did you know that the skipper has had another bad spell?"

"No. When?"

"Jest a few minnits ago. Cryin' for Carlsen like a kid for its nurse an'bottle. The doc's with him now. An' I'm beginnin' to have a hunch what'swrong with him. Here's somethin' for you to chew on: Inside offorty-eight hours there's goin' to be an upset aboard this hooker an'it's up to me an' you to see we come out on top. If not--"

He spread out his arms with the great, gorilla-like hands at the end ofthem, in a gesture that supplanted words. Beyond any doubt Lund expectedtrouble. And Rainey, for the first time, began to sense it as somethingapproaching, sinister, almost tangible. 

"You drop in on the hunters an' have a little game of poker ter-night, "said Lund emphatically. 

"I haven't got much money with me, " said Rainey. 

"Money, hell!" mocked Lund. "They don't play for money. They play forshares in the gold. They've got the big amount fixed at a million, eachshare worth ten thousand. 'Cordin' to the way things stand at present, you've got forty thousand dollars' worth in chips to gamble with. Put itup to 'em that way. I figger they'll accept it. If they don't, wal, we've learned something. An' don't forget to git next to Sandy. "

A good deal of this was enigmatical to Rainey, but there was nomistaking Lund's tremendous seriousness and, duly impressed, Raineypromised to carry out his suggestions. 

As he crossed the main cabin to go to his own room, Carlsen came out ofthe skipper's. He did not see Rainey at first and was humming a littleair under his breath as he slipped a small article into his pocket. Hisface held a sneer. Then he saw Rainey, and it changed to a mask thatrevealed nothing. His tune stopped. 

"I hear the captain's sick again, " said Rainey. "Not serious, I hope. "

Carlsen stood there gazing at him with his look of a sphinx, his eyeshalf-closed, the scoffing light showing faintly. 

"Serious? I'm afraid it is serious this time, Rainey. Yes, " he endedslowly. "I am inclined to think it is really serious. " He turned awayand rapped at the door of the girl's stateroom. In answer to a low replyhe turned the handle and went in, leaving Rainey alone. 

CHAPTER VI

SANDY SPEAKS

The next morning Rainey, going on deck to relieve Hansen at eight bells, in the commencement of the forenoon watch, found Lund in the bows as hewalked forward, waiting for the bell to be struck. The giant leaned bythe bowsprit, his spectacled eyes seeming to gaze ahead into the gray ofthe northern sky, and it seemed to Rainey as if he were smelling thewind. The sun shone brightly enough, but it lacked heat-power, and thesea had gone down, though it still ran high in great billows of dullgreen. There was a bite to the air, and Rainey, fresh from the warmcabin, wished he had brought up his sweater. 

Lightly as he trod, the giant heard him and instantly recognized him. 

"How'd ye make out with the hunters last night?" he queried. "I turnedin early. "

"We had quite a session, " said Rainey. "They got me in the game, allright. "

"Enny objections 'bout yore stakin' yore share in the gold?"

"Not a bit. I fancy they thought it a bit of a joke. More of one afterwe'd finished the game. I lost two thousand seven hundred dollars, " headded with a laugh. "No chips under a dollar. Sky limit. And Deming hadall the luck, and a majority of the skill, I fancy. "

"Don't seem to worry you none. "

"Well, it was sort of ghost money, " laughed Rainey. 

"You've seen the color of it, " retorted Lund. "Hear ennything special?"

"No. " Rainey spoke thoughtfully. "I had a notion I was being treated asan outsider, though they were friendly enough. But, somehow I fancy theyreserved their usual line of talk. "

"Shouldn't wonder, " grunted Lund. "Seen Sandy yet?"

"I haven't had a chance. I imagined it would be best not to be seentalking to him. "

"Right. Matey, things are comin' to a head. There's ice in the air. Ican smell it. Feel the difference in temperature? Ice, all right. An'that means two things. We're nigh one of the Aleutians, an' BeringStrait is full of ice. Early, a bit, but there's nothin' reg'lar 'boutthe way ice forms. I've got a strong hunch something'll break before wemake the Strait. 

"There's one thing in our favor. Yore savin' Sandy has set you solidwith the hunters. They won't be so keen to maroon you. An' they'll thinktwice about puttin' me ashore blind. I used to git along fine with thehunters. All said an' done, they're men at bottom. Got their heartsgold-plated right now. But--"

He seemed obsessed with the idea that the crew, with Carlsen as primeinstigator, had determined to leave them stranded on some volcanic, lonely barren islet. Rainey wondered what actual foundations he had forthat theory. 

"The sailors--" he started. 

"Don't amount to a bunch of dried herrin'. A pore lot. Swing either way, like a patent gate. I ain't worryin' about them. I'm goin' to git mycoffee. I was up afore dawn, tryin' to figger things out. You git toSandy soon's you can, matey. " And Lund went below. 

Rainey saw nothing more of him until noon, at the midday meal. And hefound no chance to talk with Sandy. He noticed the boy looking at himonce or twice, wistfully, he thought, and yet furtively. A thickeningatmosphere of something unusual afoot seemed present. And the actualweather grew distinctly colder. He had got his sweater, and he neededit. The sailors had put on their thickest clothes. Carlsen did notappear during the morning, neither did the hunters. Nor the girl. 

At noon Carlsen came up to take his observation. He said nothing toRainey, but the latter noticed the doctor's face seemed more sardonicthan usual as he tucked his sextant under his arm. 

With Hansen on deck they all assembled at the table with the exceptionof the captain. Tamada served perfectly and silently. The doctorconversed with the girl in a low voice. Once or twice she smiled acrossthe table at Rainey in friendly fashion. 

"Skipper enny better?" asked Lund, at the end of the meal. 

Carlsen ignored him, but the girl answered:

"I am afraid not. " It was not often she spoke to Lund at all, and Raineywondered if she had experienced any change of feeling toward the giantas well as himself. 

Carlsen got up, announcing his intention of going forward. Lund noddedsignificantly at Rainey as if to suggest that the doctor was going toforegather with the hunters, and that this might be an opportunity totalk with Sandy. 

"Goin' to turn in, " he said. "Eyes hurt me. It's the ice in the wind. "

"Is there ice?" Peggy Simms asked Rainey as Lund disappeared. Carlsenhad already vanished. 

"None in sight, " he answered. "But Lund says he can smell it, and Ithink I know what he means. It's cold on deck. "

The girl went to the door of her own room and then hesitated and cameback to the table where Rainey still sat. He had four hours off, and hemeant to make an opportunity of talking to the roustabout. 

"Mr. Carlsen told me he expects to sight land by to-morrow morning, " shesaid. "Unalaska or Unimak, most likely. How is the boy you saved?"

She seemed so inclined to friendliness, her eyes were so frank, thatRainey resolved to talk to her. He held a notion that she was lonely, and worried about her father. There were pale blue shadows under hereyes, and he fancied her face looked drawn. 

"May I ask you a question?" he asked. 

"Surely. "

"Just why did you beg my pardon? And, I may be wrong, but you seemed tomake a point of doing so rather publicly. "

She flushed slowly, but did not avoid his gaze, coming over to the tableand standing across from him, her fingers resting lightly on thepolished wood. 

"It was because I thought I had misunderstood you, " she said. "And Ihave thought it over since. I do not think that any man who would riskhis life to save that lad could have joined the ship with such motivesas you did. I--I hope I am not mistaken. "

Rainey stared at her in astonishment. 

"What motives?" he asked. "Surely you know I did not intend to go onthis voyage of my own free will?"

The changing light in her eyes reminded Rainey of the look of herfather's when he was at his best in some time of stress for theschooner. They were steady, and the pupils had dilated while the irisesheld the color of steel. There was something more than ordinary femininesoftness to her, he decided. She sat down, challenging his gaze. 

"Do you mean to tell me, " she asked, "that you did not use yourknowledge of this treasure to gain a share in it, under a covert threatof disclosing it to the newspaper you worked for?"

It was Rainey's turn to flush. His indignation flooded his eyes, and thegirl's faltered a little. His wrath mastered his judgment. He did notintend to spare her feelings. What did she mean by such a charge? Shemust have known about the drugging. If not--she soon would. 

"Your fiancé, Mr. Carlsen, told you that, I fancy, " he said, "if you didnot evolve it from your own imagination. " Now her face fairly flamed. 

"My fiancé?" she gasped. "Who told you that?"

"The gentleman himself, " answered Rainey. 

"Oh!" she cried, closing her eyes, her face paling. 

"The same gentleman, " went on Rainey vindictively, "who put chloral inmy drink and deliberately shanghaied me aboard the _Karluk_, so that Ionly came to at sea, with no chance of return. He, too, was afraid Imight give the snap away to my paper, though I would have given him myword not to. He told me it was a matter of business, that he hadkidnapped me for my own good, " he went on bitterly, recalling the talkwith Carlsen when he had come out of the influence of the drug. "Youdon't have to believe me, of course, " he broke off. 

"I don't think you are quite fair, Mr. Rainey, " the girl answered. "Tome, I mean. I will give you _my_ word that I knew nothing of this. I--"She suddenly widened her eyes and stared at him. "Then--my father--he?"

Rainey felt a twinge of compassion. 

"He was there when it happened, " he said. "But I don't know that he hadanything to do with it. Mr. Carlsen may have convinced him it was theonly thing to do. He seems to have considerable influence with yourfather. "

[Illustration: "The same gentleman who put chloral in my drink"]

"He has. He--Mr. Rainey, I have begged your pardon once; I do so again. Won't you accept it? Perhaps, later, we can talk this matter out. I amupset. But--you'll accept the apology, and believe me?"

She put out her hand across the table and Rainey gripped it. 

"We'll be friends?" she asked. "I need a friend aboard the _Karluk_, Mr. Rainey. "

He experienced a revulsion of feeling toward her. She was undoubtedlyplucky, he thought; she would stand up to her guns, but she suddenlylooked very tired, a pathetic figure that summoned his chivalry. 

"Why, surely, " he said. 

They relinquished hands slowly, and again Rainey felt something morethan her mere grasp lingering, a slight tingling that warmed him tosmile at her in a manner that brought a little color back to her cheeks. 

"Thank you, " she said. 

He watched her close the door of her cabin behind her before heremembered that she had not denied that she was to marry Carlsen. But heshrugged his shoulders as he started to smoke. At any rate, he toldhimself, she knows what kind of a chap he is--in what he calls business. 

Presently he thought he heard her softly sobbing in her room, and he gotup and paced the cabin, not entirely pleased with himself. 

"I was a bit of a cad the way I went at her, " he thought, "but that chapCarlsen sticks in my gorge. How any decent girl could think of mating upwith him is beyond me--unless--by gad, I'll bet he's working through herfather to pull it off! For the gold! If he's in love with her he's got adamned queer way of not showing it. "

The door from the galley corridor opened, and a head was poked incautiously. Then Sandy came into the cabin. 

"Beg pardon, Mister Rainey, sir, " said the roustabout, "I was throughwith the dishes. I wanted to have a talk with yer. " His pop-eyes roamedabout the cabin doubtfully. 

"Come in here, " said Rainey, and ushered Sandy into his own quarters. 

"Now, then, " he said, established on the bunk, while Sandy stood by thepartition, slouching, irresolute, his slack jaw working as if he waschewing something, "what is it, my lad?"

"They'd kick the stuffin' out of me if they knew this, " said Sandy. "I've bin warned to hold my tongue. Deming said he'd cut it out if Ichattered. An' he would. But--"

"But what? Sit down, Sandy; I won't give you away. "

"You went overboard after me, sir. None of them would. I've heard whatMr. Carlsen said, that I didn't ermount to nothin'. Mebbe I don't, butI've got my own reasons for hangin' on. Me, of course I don't ermount tomuch. Why would I? If I ever had mother an' father, I never laid eyes on'em. I've made my own livin' sence I was eight. I've never 'ad enoughgrub in my belly till I worked for Tamada. The Jap slips me primefillin'. He's only a Jap, but he's got more heart than the rest o' thatbloody bunch put tergether. "

Rainey nodded. 

"Tell me what you know, quickly. You may be wanted any minute. "

The words seemed to stick in the lad's dry throat, and then they camewith a gush. 

"It's the doc! It's Carlsen who's turned 'em into a lot of bloodybolsheviks, sir. Told 'em they ought to have an ekal share in the gold. Ekal all round, all except Tamada--an' me. I don't count. An' Tamada's aJap. The men is sore at Mr. Lund becoz he sez the skipper left himbe'ind on the ice. Carlsen's worked that up, too. Said Lund made 'em allout to be cowards. 'Cept Hansen, that is. He don't dare say too much, orthey'd jump him, but Hansen sort of hints that Cap'n Simms ought to havegone back after Lund, could have gone back, is the way Hansen put it. Sothey're all goin' to strike. "

Rainey's mind reacted swiftly to Sandy's talk. It seemed inconceivablethat Carlsen would be willing to share alike with the hunters and thecrew. Sandy's imagination had been running wild, or the men had beenmaking a fool of him. The girl's share would be thrown into the commonlot. And then flashed over him the trick by which Carlsen had disposedof all the ammunition in the hunters' possession. He had a deeper schemethan the one he fed to the hunters, and which he merely offered to servesome present purpose. Rainey's jaw muscles bunched. 

"Go on, Sandy, " he said tersely. 

"There ain't much more, sir. They're goin' to put it up to Lund. Firstthey figgered some on settin' him ashore with you an' the Jap. That'swhat Carlsen put up to 'em. But they warn't in favor of that. Said Lundfound the gold, an' ought to have an ekal share with the rest. An'they're feelin' diff'runt about you, sir, since you saved me. Not becozit was me, but becoz it was what Deming calls a damn plucky thing todo. "

"How did you learn all this?" demanded Rainey. 

"Scraps, sir. Here an' there. The sailors gams about it nights whenthey thinks I'm asleep in the fo'c's'le. An' I keeps my ears open when Iwaits on the hunters. But they ain't goin' to give you no share becozyou warn't in on the original deal. But they ain't goin' to maroon you, neither, unless Lund bucks an' you stand back of him. "

"How about Captain Simms?"

"Carlsen sez he'll answer for him, sir. He boasts how he's goin' tomarry the gal. That'll giv' him three shares--countin' the skipper's. The men don't see that, but I did. He's a bloody fox, is Carlsen. "

"When's this coming off?" asked Rainey. 

"Quick! They're goin' to sight land ter-morrer, they say. I heard thatthis mornin'. I hid in my bunk. It heads ag'inst the wall of thehunters' mess an', if it's quiet, you can hear what they say. 

"They ain't goin' in to Bering Strait through Unimak Pass. They're goin'in through Amukat or Seguam Pass. An' they'll put it up to Lund an' theskipper somewheres close by there. An' that's where you two'll get putoff, if you don't fall in line. "

"All right, Sandy. You're smarter than I thought you were. Sure of allthis?"

"I ain't much to look at, sir, but I ain't had to buck my own waywithout gittin' on ter myself. You won't give me away, though? They'dkeelhaul me. "

"I won't. You cut along. And if we happen to come out on top, Sandy, I'll see that you get a share out of it. "

"Thank you, sir. "

"I'll come out with you, " said Rainey. "If any one comes in before youget clear, I'll give you an order. I sent for you, understand. "

But Sandy got back into the galley without any trouble. Rainey began topace the cabin again, and then went back into his own room to line thething up. Lund was asleep, but he would waken him, he decided, filledwith admiration at the blind man's sagacity and the way he had foreseenthe general situation. 

There was not much time to lose. He did not see what they could doagainst the proposition. He was sure that Lund would not consent to it. And he might have some plan. He had hinted that he had cards up hissleeve. 

What Carlsen's ultimate plans were Rainey did not bother himself with. That it meant the fooling of the whole crew he did not doubt. Heintended eventually to gather all the gold. And the girl--she would bein his power. But perhaps she wanted to be? Rainey got out of his blindalley of thought and started into the main cabin to give Lund the news. 

The girl was coming out of her father's room. 

"Any better?" asked Rainey. 

"No. I can't understand it. He seems hardly to know me. Doctor Carlsencame along because of father's sciatica, but--there's somethingelse--and the doctor can't help it any. I can't quite understand--"

She stopped abruptly. 

"Have you known the doctor long?" asked Rainey. 

"For a year. He lives in Mill Valley, close to my uncle. I live with myfather's brother when father is at sea. But this time I wanted to benear him. And the doctor--"

Again she seemed to be deliberately checking herself from a revelationthat wanted to come out. 

"Did he practise in Mill Valley? Or San Francisco?" asked Rainey, remembering Lund's outburst against Carlsen's professional powers. 

"No, he hasn't practised for some years. That was how it happened he wasable to go along. Of course, father promised him a certain share in theventure. And he was a friend. "

She trailed off in her speech, looking uncertainly at Rainey. The lattercame to a decision. 

"Miss Simms, " he said, "are you going to marry Doctor Carlsen?"

Suddenly Rainey was aware that some one had come into the cabin. It wasCarlsen, now swiftly advancing toward him, his face livid, his mouthsnarling, and his black eyes devilish with mischief. 

"I'll attend to this end of it, " he said. "Peggy, you had better go into your father. I'll be in there in a minute. He's a pretty sick man, "he added. 

His snarl had changed to a smile, and he seemed to have swiftlycontrolled himself. The girl looked at both of them and slowly went intothe captain's room. Carlsen wheeled on Rainey, his face once more a maskof hate. 

"I'll put you where you belong, you damned interloper, " he said. "Whatin hell do you mean by asking her that question?"

"That is my business. "

"I'll make it mine. And I'll settle yours very shortly, once and forall. I suppose you're soft on the girl yourself, " he sneered. "Thinkyourself a hero! Do you think she'd look at you, a beggarly news-monger?Why, she--"

"You can leave her out of it, " said Rainey, quietly. "As for you, Ithink you're a dirty blackguard. "

Carlsen's hand shot back to his hip pocket as Rainey's fist flashedthrough the opening and caught him high on the jaw, sending himstaggering back, crashing against the partition and down into thecushioned seat that ran around the place. 

But his gun was out. As he raised it Rainey grappled with him. Carlsenpulled trigger, and the bullet smashed through the skylight above them, while Rainey forced up his arm, twisting it fiercely with both handsuntil the gun fell on the seat. 

Simultaneously the girl and Lund appeared. 

"Gun-play?" rumbled the giant. "That'll be you, Carlsen! You're too fondof shooting off that gat of yores. "

Rainey had stepped back at the girl's exclamation. Carlsen recovered hisgun and put it away, while Peggy Simms advanced with blazing eyes. 

"You coward!" she said. "If I had thought--oh!"

She made a gesture of utter loathing, at which Carlsen sneered. 

"I'll show you whether I'm a coward or not, my lady, " he said, "before Iget through with all of you. And I'll tell you one thing: The captain'slife is in my hands. And he and I are the only navigators aboard thisvessel, except a fool of a blind man, " he added, as he strode to thedoor of Simms' cabin, turned to look at them, laughed deliberately intheir faces, and shut the door on them. 

CHAPTER VII

RAINEY MAKES DECISION

"Well?" asked Lund, "what are you goin' to do about it, Rainey? Stickwith me, or line up with the rest of 'em, work yore passage, an' thank'em for nothing when they divvy the stuff an' leave you out? You've gotto decide one way or the other damn' quick, for the show-down's on theprogram for ter-morrer. "

"You haven't said outright what you are going to do yourself, " repliedRainey. "As for me, I seem to be between the devil and the deep sea. Carlsen has got some plan to outwit the men. It's inconceivable thathe'll be willing to give them equal shares. And he has no use for me. "

"You ought to have grabbed that gun of his before he did, " said Lund. "He'll put you out of the way if he can, but, now his temper's b'iledover a bit, he'll not shoot you. Not afore the gold's in the hold. Onething, he knows the hunters wouldn't stand for it. They've got dust intheir eyes right now--gold-dust, chucked there by Carlsen, but if he'dbutchered you he'd likely lose his grip on 'em. I think he would. Idon't believe yo're in enny danger, Rainey, if you want to buckle in an'line up with the crowd. 

"As for me, " he went on, his voice deepening, "I'm goin' to tell 'em togo plumb to hell. I'll tell Carlsen a few things first. Equal shares! Afine bunch of socialists they are! Settin' aside that Carlsen's bullin''em, as you say. Equal? They ain't my equal, none of 'em, man to man. All men are born free an' equal, says the Constitution an' by-laws ofthis country of ours. Granted. But they don't stay that way long. They're all lined up to toe the mark on the start, but watch 'emstraggle afore they've run a tenth of the distance. 

"I found this gold, an' they didn't. I don't have to divvy with 'em, an' I won't. A lot of I. W. W. 's, that's what they are, an' I'll tell'em so. More'n that, if enny of 'em thinks he's my equal all he's got todo is say so, an' I'll give him a chance to prove it. Feel those arms, matey, size me up. Man to man, I c'ud break enny of 'em in half. Put mein a room with enny three of 'em, an' the door locked, an' one 'ud comeout. That 'ud be me. "

This was not bragging, not blustering, but calm assurance, and Raineyfelt that Lund merely stated what he believed to be facts. And Raineybelieved they were facts. There was a confident strength of spirit asidefrom his physical condition that emanated from Lund as steam comes froma kettle. It was the sort of strength that lies in a steady gale, a windthat one can lean against, an elastic power with big reserves of force. But the conditions were all against Lund, though he proceeded to putthem aside. 

"Man to man, " he repeated, "I c'ud beat 'em into Hamburg steak. An' I'vegot brains enough to fool Carlsen. I've outguessed him so far. "

"He's got the gun, " warned Rainey. 

"Never mind his gun. I ain't afraid of his gun. " He nodded with suchsupreme confidence that Rainey felt himself suddenly relegating thedoctor's possession of the gun to the background. "If his gun's the onlything trubblin' you, forget it. You an' me got to know where we stand. It's up to you. I won't blame you for shiftin' over. An' I can git alongwithout you, if need be. But we've got along together fine; I've took anotion to you. I'd like to see you get a whack of that gold, an' all thedevils in hell an' out of it ain't goin' to stop me from gittin' it!"

He talked in a low voice, but it rumbled like the distant roar of abull. Rainey looked at the indomitable jaw that the beard could nothide, at the great barrel of his chest, the boughlike arms, the swellingthighs and calves, and responded to the suggestion that Lund could risein Berserker rage and sweep aside all opposition. 

It was absurd, of course; his next thought adjusted the balance that hadbeen weighed down by the compelling quality of the man's vigor but, forthe moment, remembering his earlier simile, Lund appeared a blind Samsonwho, by some miracle, could at the last moment destroy his enemies bypulling down their house--or their ship--about them. 

"Carlsen says that the skipper's life is in his hands, " he said, stillevading Lund's direct question. "What do you make of that?"

"I don't know what to make of it, " answered Lund. "If it is, God helpthe skipper! I reckon he's in a bad way. Ennyhow, he's out of it for thetime bein', Rainey. I don't think he'll be present at the meetin' ifhe's that ill. Carlsen speaks for him. Count Simms out of it for thepresent. "

"There's the girl, " said Rainey. "I don't believe she wants to marryCarlsen. "

"If she does, " said Lund, "she ain't the kind we need worry about. Carlsen 'ud marry her if he thought it was necessary to git her share bybein' legal. He may try an' squeeze her to a wedding through theskipper. Threaten to let her dad die if she don't marry him, likely'llgit the skipper to tie the knot. It 'ud be legal. But if you'reinterested about the gal, Rainey, an' I take it you are, I'm tellin' youthat Carlsen'll marry her if it suits his book. If it don't, he won't. An', if he wins out, he'll take her without botherin' about prayer-booksan' ceremonies. I know his breed. All men are more or less selfish an'shy on morals, in streaks more or less wide, but that Carlsen's justplain skunk. "

"The men wouldn't permit that, " said Rainey tersely. "If Carlsen startedanything like that I'd kill him with my own hands, gun or no gun. Andany white man would help me do it. "

"You would, mebbe, " said Lund, nodding sagely. "You'd have a try at it. But you don't know men, matey, not like I do. This ship's got a skippernow. A sick one, I grant you. But so far he's boss. An' he's the gal'sfather. All's usual an' reg'lar. But you turn this schooner into afree-an'-easy, equal shares-to-all, go-as-you-please outfit, let 'em gittheir claws on the gold, an' be on the way home to spend it--forCarlsen'll let 'em go that far afore he pulls his play, whatever itis--an' discipline will go by the board. 

"Grog'll be served when they feel like it, they'll start gamblin', someof 'em'll lose all they got. There'll be sore-heads, an' they'llremember there's a gal in the after-cabin, which won't be theafter-cabin enny more, for they'll all have the run of it, bein' equal;then all hell's goin' to break loose, far's that gal's concerned. 

"A bunch of men who've bin at sea for weeks, half drunk, crazy overhavin' more gold than they ever dreamed of, or havin' gambled it away. Jest a bunch of beasts, matey, whenever they think of that gal. They'llbe too much for Carlsen to handle--an'"--he tapped at Rainey'sknee--"Carlsen don't think enough of enny woman to let her interferewith his best interests. "

Rainey's jaw was set and his fists clenched, his blood running hot andfast. His imagination was instinct to conjure up full-colored scenesfrom Lund's suggestions. 

"You mean--" he began. 

"Under his hide, when there ain't nothin' to hinder him, a man's plainanimal, " said Lund. "What do these water-front bullies know about a goodgal--or care? They only know one sort. Ever think what happened to awoman in privateer days when they got one aboard, alone, on the highseas? Why, if they pushed Carlsen, he'd turn her over to 'em withoutwinkin'. "

"You hinted I was different, " said Rainey. "How about you, Lund, howwould you act?"

"If Carlsen wins out, I'd be chewin' mussels on a rock, or feedin'crabs, " said Lund simply. "I'm no saint, but, so long as I can keepwigglin', there ain't enny hunter or seaman goin' to harm a decent gal. That's another way they ain't my equal, Rainey. Savvy? Nor is Carlsen. There ain't enough real manhood in that Carlsen to grease a skillet. Howabout it, Rainey; are you lined up with me?"

"Just as far as I can go, Lund. I'm with you to the limit. "

Lund brought down his hand with a mighty swing, and caught at Rainey'sin mid-air, gripping it till Rainey bit his lips to repress a cry ofpain. 

"You've got the guts!" cried the giant, checking the loudness of hisvoice abruptly. "I knew it. It ain't all goin' to go as they like it. Watch my smoke. Now, then, keep out of Carlsen's way all you can. He maytry an' pick a row with you that'll put you in wrong all around. Go easyan' speak easy till land's sighted. If you ain't invited to thisI. W. W. Convention, horn in. 

"Carlsen'll try an' keep you on deck, I fancy. Don't stay there. Turnthe wheel over to Sandy if you have to. I'll insist on havin' youthere. That'll be better. They'll probably have some fool agreement tosign. Carlsen would do that. Make 'em all feel it's more like a biznessmeetin'. They'll love to scrawl their names an' put down their marks. I'll have to have you there to read it over to me; savvy?"

"What do you think Carlsen's game is, if it goes through?"

"He's fox enough to think up a dozen ways. Run the schooner ashoresomewhere in the night. Wreck her. Git 'em in the boats with the gold. Inside of a week, Deming an' one or two others would have won it all. Then--he'd have the only gun--he'd shoot the lot of 'em an' say theydied at sea. He ain't got enny more warm blood than a squid. Or he mightland, and accuse 'em all of piracy. What do we care about his plans? Heain't goin' to put 'em over. "

Rainey had to relieve Hansen. He left Lund primed for resistance againstCarlsen, against all the crew, if necessary, resolved to save the girl, but, as Lund stayed below and the time slid by, his confidence oozed outof him, and the odds assumed their mathematical proportion. 

What could they do against so many? But he held firm in hisdetermination to do what he could, to go down with the forlorn hope, fighting. Blind as he was, Lund was the better man of the two of them, Rainey felt; it was better to attempt to seize the horns of the dilemmathan weakly to give way and, with Lund killed, or marooned, trysingle-handed to protect Peggy Simms against the horrors that would comelater. 

He did not believe himself in love with her. The environment had notbeen conducive to that sort of thing. But the thought of her, theirhands clasped, her eyes appealing, saying she needed a friend aboard the_Karluk_; the young clean beauty of her, nerved him to stand with Lundagainst the odds. Lund was fighting for his rights, for his gold, but hehad said that he would not see a decent girl harmed as long as he couldwiggle. Rough sea-bully as the giant was, he had his code. Raineytingled with contempt of his own hesitancy. 

The _Karluk_ was bowling along northward toward landfall and the crisisbetween Lund and Carlsen at good speed. The weather had subsided and thehalf gale now served the schooner instead of hindering her. Raineyturned over the wheel to a seaman and paced the deck. The bite in theair had increased until even the smart walk he maintained failed tocirculate the blood sufficiently to keep his fingers from becomingbenumbed, so that he had to beat his arms across his chest. 

It was well below the freezing point. If they had been sailing on freshwater, instead of salt, he fancied that the rigging would have beenglazed where the spray struck it. As it was, the canvas seemed to himstiffer than usual, and there was a whitish haze about the northernhorizon that suggested ice. 

The tall, olive-tinted seas ranged up in dissolving hills, the wind'swhistle was shrill in the rigging. Over the mainmast a gray-breastedbird with wide, unmoving pinions hung without apparent motion, its rubyeyes watching the ship, as if it was a spy sent out from the Arctic toreport the adventurous strangers about to dare its dangers. 

As the day passed to sunset the gloom quickly deepened. The sun sankearly into banks of leaden clouds, and the _Karluk_ slid on through theseething seas in a scene of strange loneliness, save for the suspendedalbatross that never varied its position by an inch or by a flirt of itsplumes. 

Rainey felt the dreary suggestion of it all as he walked up and down, trying to evolve some plan. Lund's mysterious hints were unsatisfactory. He could not believe them without some basis, but the giant would nevergo further than vague talk of a "joker" or a card up his sleeve. Andthey would need more than one card, Rainey thought. 

He wondered whether they could win over Hansen, who had spoken for Lundagainst the skipper. And had then kept his counsel. But he dismissedHansen as an ally. The Scandinavian was too cautious, too apt toconsider such things as odds. Sandy was useless, aside from hisgood-will. He was cowed by Deming, scared of Carlsen, too puny to domore than he had done, given them warning. 

Tamada? Would he fight for the share of gold he expected to come to him?Lund had described him as neutral. But, if he knew that he was to beleft out of the division? It was not likely that he would be called tothe conference. The Japanese undoubtedly knew the racial prejudiceagainst him, a prejudice that Rainey considered short-sighted, takingsome pains to show that he did not share it. At any rate, Tamada mightprovide him with a weapon, a sharp-bladed vegetable knife if nothingbetter. 

But, if it came to downright combat, they must be overwhelmed. Carlsen'sgun again assumed proper proportions. Lund might not be afraid of it, but Rainey was, very frankly. He should have snatched it from the cabincushions. But Tamada? He could not dismiss Tamada as an importantfactor. There was no question to Rainey but that Tamada was, by caste, above his position as sealer's cook. It was true that a Japaneseconsidered no means menial if they led to the proper end. 

Was that end merely to gain possession of his share of the gold, or didTamada have some deeper, more complicated reason for signing on to runthe galley of the _Karluk_? Somehow Rainey thought there was such areason. He treated Tamada with a courtesy that he had found otherJapanese appreciated, and fancied that Tamada gradually came to regardhim with a certain amount of good-will. But it was hard to determineanything that went on back of those unfathomable eyes, or to readTamada's face, smooth and placid as that of an ivory image. 

CHAPTER VIII

TAMADA TALKS

Tamada's galley was as orderly and efficient as the operating-room of afirst-class hospital. And Tamada at his work had all the deftness andsome of the dignity of a surgeon. There was no wasted move, there was nolitter of preparation, every article was returned to its specified placeas soon as used, and every implement and utensil was shining andspotless. 

It was an hour from the third meal of the day. Tamada was juggling thefood for three messes, and he was doing it with the calm precision ofone who has every detail well mapped out and is moving on schedule. Theboy Sandy was not there, probably engaged in laying the table for thehunters' mess, Rainey imagined. 

Tamada regarded him with eyes that did not lack a certain luster, as asloeberry might hold it, but which, beneath their hooded lids, revealedneither interest, nor curiosity, nor friendliness. They belonged in hisunwrinkled face, they were altogether neutral. Yet they seemed covertlyto suggest to Rainey that they might, on occasion, flame with wrath orhatred, or show the burning light of high intelligence. Seldom, hethought, while their gaze rested on him impassively, would they soften. 

"Tamada, " he queried, "you think I am your friend, that I would ratherhelp you than otherwise?"

"I think that--yes?" answered the Japanese without hesitation andwithout servility. And his eyes slowly searched Rainey's face withappraising pertinacity for a second or two. His English, save for theoddness of his idioms and a burr that made _r's_ of most his _l's_, andsometimes reversed the process, was almost perfect. His vocabularyshowed study. "You are not hating me because you are Californian and IJapanese, " he said. "I know that. "

There was little time to spare, and there was likelihood ofinterruption, so Rainey plunged into his subject without introduction. 

"They promised you a share of this treasure, Tamada?" he asked. 

"They promised me that, yes. "

"They do not intend to give it to you. " There was a tiny, dancingflicker in the dark eyes that died like a spark in the night air. Raineyrecalled Lund's opinion that little went on that Tamada did not know. "You may have guessed this, " he hurried on, "but I am sure of it. I, too, am promised some of the gold, but they do not intend to give it tome. They will offer Mr. Lund only a small portion of what was originallyarranged, the same amount as the rest of them are to get. He will refusethat to-morrow, when a meeting is to be called. Then there will betrouble. I shall stand with Mr. Lund. If we win you will get your share, whether you help us or not. If you help us I can promise you at leasttwice the amount you were to get. "

"How can I help you? If this is to be talked over at a meeting I shallnot be allowed to be present. If trouble starts it will do soimmediately. Mr. Lund"--he called it Rund--"is not patient man. What canI do? How can I help you?"

Rainey was nonplused. He had seized the first opportunityof sounding the Japanese, and he had nothing outlined. 

"I do not know, " he said. "I must talk that over with Mr. Lund. I wantedto know if you would be on our side. "

"Mr. Lund will not want me to help you. He does not like color of myskin, he does not like Japanese because he thinks they make too goodliving in California, and making more money than some of his countrymen. I do not think it help you for me to join. I do not see how you can win. If you can show some way out I will do what I can. But I like to see wayout. "

He mollified the bald acknowledgment of his neutrality with a little bowand a hissing-in breath. Back of it all was a will that was inflexible, thought Rainey. 

"If we lose, you lose, " he went on lamely. He had come on a fool'serrand, he decided. 

"I think I shall get my money, " said Tamada, and something looked out ofhis eyes that betrayed a purpose already gained, Rainey fancied, as achess player might gain assurance of victory by the looking ahead to allconceivable moves against him, and providing a counter-play that wouldachieve the game. It was borne in upon him that Tamada had resources hecould not fathom. The Oriental gave a swift smile, that held no mirth, no friendship, rather, a sardonic appreciation of the situation, withoutrancor. 

"They are very foolish, " he said. "They make me cook, they eat what Iserve. They say Tamada is very good cook. But he is Jap, damn him. Suppose I put something in that food, that they would not taste? I couldsend them all to sleep. I could kill them. I could do it so they neversuspect, but would go to their beds--and never get up from them. Itwould be very easy. Yet they trust me. "

The statement was so matter-of-fact that Rainey felt his horror gatherslowly as he stared at the impassive Oriental. 

"You would do that? What good would it do you? You would have to killthem all, or the rest would tear you apart. And if you murdered thewhole ship where would you be? You talk as if you were a little mad. Suppose I told Carlsen of this?"

Tamada was smiling again. He seemed to know that Rainey was in noposition to betray him--if he wished to do so. 

"I did not say I would do it. And, except under certain circumstances, it do me little good. I do not expect to do it. But it would be easy. Yet, as you say, it would not help you to kill only few, those who willbe at the meeting, for example, even if I wish to do. No, I do not seeway out. If, at any time there should seem way out and I can help you, Iwill. "

He turned abruptly to a simmering pot and rattled the lid. The hunter, Deming, stuck his head in at the door. 

"Smells good, " he said. "Evening, Mr. Rainey. "

He seemed disposed to linger, and Rainey, not to excite suspicion towardhimself or Tamada, went back on deck. What did Tamada mean by "exceptunder certain circumstances"? he asked himself. For one thing he feltsure that Tamada had some basis for his expression that he expected toget his money. _He knew something_. Was it merely the Oriental method of_jiu-jitsu_, practised mentally as well as physically, the belief in aseemingly passive resistance against circumstances, waiting for somemove that, by its own aggressiveness, would give him an opening for atrick that would secure him the advantage? What could one Japanese hopeto do against the crowd?

A thought suddenly flashed over Rainey. Was Tamada in league withCarlsen? Had he mistaken his man? Did Carlsen plan to have Tamadaundertake a wholesale poisoning to secure the gold himself, providingthe drugs? Was it a friendly hint from the Japanese?

Still mulling over it he went down to supper. The girl was not present. Carlsen appeared in an unusual mood. 

"I was a bit hasty, Rainey, " he said, with all appearance of sincerity. "I've been worried a bit over the skipper. He's in a bad way. 

"Forget what happened, if you can. I apologize. Though I still thinkyour interference in my private affairs unwarranted. I'll call itsquare, if you will. "

He nodded across the table at Rainey, saving the latter a reply which hewas rather at a loss how to word. Amenities from Carlsen were likely aGreek gift. And Carlsen rattled on during the meal in high good spirits, rallying Rainey about his poker game with the hunters, joking Lund abouthis shooting, talking of the landfall they expected the next day. 

To Rainey's surprise Lund picked up the talk. There was a subtle, sardonic flavor to it on both sides and, once in a while, as Tamada, like an animated sphinx, went about his duties, Rainey saw the eyes ofCarlsen turned questioningly upon the giant as if a bit puzzledconcerning the exact spirit of his sallies. 

Rainey admired while he marveled at the sheer skill of Lund in this sortof a fencing bout. He never went far enough to arouse Carlsen'ssuspicions, yet he showed a keen sense of humorous appreciation ofCarlsen's half-satirical sallies that, in the light of Sandy'srevelation, showed the doctor considered himself the master of thesituation, the winner of a game whose pieces were already on the board, though the players had not yet taken their places. Yet Rainey fanciedthat Carlsen qualified his dismissal of Lund as a "blind fool" beforethey rose from the table, without disturbing his own equanimity as thecraftier of the two. 

Later, when his watch was ended and he was closeted with Lund in thelatter's cabin, the giant promptly quashed all discussion of Tamada'sattitude. 

"I'll put no trust in any slant-eyed, yellow-skinned rice-eater, " heannounced emphatically. "They're against us, race an' religion. Theywant California, or rather, the Pacific coast, an' they think they'regoin' to git it. They're no more akin to us than a snake is a cousin toan eel. They're not of our breed, an' you can't mix the two. I'll haveno deal with Tamada, beyond gettin' dope out of him. If he helped us it'ud be only to further his own ends. Not that he can do much--unless--"

He lowered his voice to a husky whisper. 

"There's one thing may slip in our gold-gettin', matey, " he said--"theJapanese. I doubt if this island is set down on American or Britishcharts. But I'll bet it is on the Japanese. I don't know as any nationhas openly claimed it, but it's a sure thing the Japs know of itsexistence. They don't know of the gold, or it wouldn't be there. Rightly, the island may belong to Russia, but, since the war, Russia'sin a bad way, an' ennything loose from the mainland'll be gobbled byJapan. 

"What the Japs grab they don't let go of. On general principles theypatrol the west side of Bering Strait. If one of their patrols sees uswe'll be inside the sealin' limit, an' they'll have right of search. They'd take it, ennyway, if they sighted us. They go by _power_ ofsearch, not right. They won't find enny pelts on us, we've got huntersaboard, we're pelagic sealers, they won't be able to hang up ennyclubbin' of herds on us. 

"But, if they should suspicion us of gittin' gold off enny island theyc'ud trump up to call theirs, if they found gold on us at all, it 'ud beall off with us an' the _Karluk_. We'd be dumped inside of some Japprison an' the schooner confiscated. 

"An', if things go right with us, an' we ever sight the smoke of a Japgunboat comin' our way, the first thing I'll be apt to do will be toscrag Tamada or he'll blow the whole proposition, whether we've got thegold aboard or not. Even if he didn't want to tell becoz of his ownshare, they'd git it out of him what we was after. "

Did this, wondered Rainey, explain Tamada's "certain circumstances"? Washe calculating on the arrival of a Japanese patrol? Had he alreadytipped off to his consul in San Francisco the purpose of the expedition, sure of a reward equal to what his share would have been? If so, Raineyhad made a muddle of his attempt to sound Tamada. He felt guilty, gladthat Lund could not see his face, and he dropped the subject abruptly. 

Lund seemed to know that something was amiss. 

"Nervous, Rainey?" he asked. "That's becoz you've not bin livin' a man'slife. All yore experience has bin second-hand, an' you've never goneinto a rough-an'-tumble, I take it. You'll make out all right if itcomes to that at all. Yo're well put up, an' you've got solid of late. Now yo're goin' to git a taste of life in the raw. Not story-book stuff. It's strong meat sometimes, an' liable to turn some people's stomachs. I've got an appetite for it, an' so'll you have, after a bit. 

"Ever play much at cards?" he went on. "Play for yore last red when youdon't know where to turn for another, an' have all the crowd thinkin'yo're goin' broke as they watch the play? An' then you slap down a cardthey've all overlooked an' larf in the other chap's face?

"That's what I'm goin' to do with Carlsen. I've got that kind of a card, matey, an' I ain't goin' to spoil my fun by tellin' even you what it is, though yo're my partner in this gamble. It's a trump, an' Carlsen'soverlooked it. He figgers he's stacked the deck an' fixed it so's hedeals himself all the winnin' cards. But there's one he don't know isthere becoz he's more of a blind fool than I am, is Doctor Carlsen. "

Lund chuckled hugely as he mixed himself some whisky and water. Raineyrefused a drink. Lund was right, he was nervous, bothering over what theoutcome might be, and how he might handle himself. He was not at allsure of his own grit. 

Lund had hit the nail on the head. All his experience had lain inlistening to the stories of others and writing them down. He did notknow whether he would act in a manner that would satisfy himself. Therewas a nasty doubt as to his own prowess and his own courage that keptcropping up. And that state of mind is not a pleasant one. 

"All be over this time ter-morrer, " put in Lund, "so far as our bisnesswith Carlsen is concerned. You git all the sleep you can ter-night, Rainey. An' don't you worry none about that gal. She's a damn' sightmore capable of lookin' after herself than you imagine. You ain'tcounted her in as bein' more than a clingin' vine proposition. Not thatshe could buck it on her own, but she's no fool, an' I bet she's game. 

"Soft on her?" he challenged unexpectedly. 

"I haven't thought of her in that way, " Rainey answered, a bit shortly. 

"Ah!" the giant ejaculated softly. "You haven't? Wal, mebbe it's jest aswell. "

Rainey took that last remark up on deck and pondered over it in themiddle watch, but he could make nothing out of it. Yet he was sure thatLund had meant something by it. 

In the middle of the night the cold seemed to concentrate. Rainey hadfound mittens in the schooner's slop-chest, and he was glad of them atthe wheel. The sailors, with but little to do, huddled forward. One manacted as lookout for ice. The smell of this was now unmistakable even toRainey's inexperience. On certain slants of wind a sharper edge wouldcome that bit through ordinary clothes. It was, he thought, as if someone had suddenly opened in the dark the doors of an enormousrefrigerator. He knew what that felt like, and this was much the same. 

The weather was still clearing. In the sky of indigo the stars wereglittering points, not of gold, but steel, hard and cold. Ahead, thenorthern lights were projected above the horizon in a low arch ofquivering rose. And, out of the north, before the wind, the sea advancedin the long, smooth folds of a weighty swell over which the _Karluk_wore her way into the breeze, clawing steadily on to the Aleutians and apassage through to Bering Strait. 

At two bells the hunters began to come on deck for a breath or so offresh air after the closeness of their quarters, as they invariably didfollowing a poker session. They did not come aft or give any greeting toRainey, but walked briskly about in couples, discussing something thatRainey did not doubt was the next day's meeting. Doubtless, in theconfidence of their numbers, they considered it a mere formality. Lundwould take what they offered--or nothing. And Carlsen had guaranteed theskipper's signature to an agreement. 

They got their lungs recharged with good air, and then the cold drovethem below, and Rainey, with the length of the schooner between him andthe watch, was practically alone. He went over and over the situationas a squirrel might race around the bars of his revolving cylinder, andcame to only one conclusion, the inevitable one, to let the matterdevelop itself. Lund's winning card he had bothered about until hisbrain was tired. The only thing he got out of all his fussing was theone new thought that seemed to fly out at a tangent and mock him. 

If Carlsen was deposed, and the skipper continued ill--to face the worstbut still plausible--if Carlsen, being deposed, refused to act, and theskipper was too sick to leave his room--who was going to navigate theschooner? Not a blind man. And Rainey couldn't learn navigation in aday. There was more to it in these perilous seas than mere reckoning. Ice was ahead. 

What could Lund make of that? Supposing that card of his did win, howcould they handle the schooner? He, in his capacity of eyes for Lund, would be about as competent as a poodle trying to lead a blind pedlerout of a maze. 

The lookout broke in on his mulling over with a sudden shout. 

"_Ice! Ice!_ Close on the starboard bow!"

Rainey put the helm over, throwing the _Karluk_ on the opposite tack. 

The berg slipped by them, not as he had imagined it, a thing ofsparkling minarets and pinnacles, but a hill of snow that materializedin the soft darkness and floated off again to dissolution like the ghostof an island, leaving behind the bitter chill of death, rising andfalling until, in a moment, it was gone, with its threat of shipwreckhad the night been less clear. 

Five times before eight bells the cry came from forward, and the heapsof shining whiteness would take form, gather a certain sharpness ofoutline, and go past the beam with the seas surging about them andbreaking with a hollow boom upon their cavernous sides. And this was inthe open sea. Lund had suggested that the strait would be full of ice. Rainey felt his sailing experience, that he came to be rather proud of, pitifully limited and inadequate in the face of coming conditions. 

When he turned in at last, despite his determination to follow Lund'sadmonition concerning sleep, it would not come to him. Hansen had takenover the deck stolidly enough, with no show of misgivings as to hisability to handle things, but his words had not been cheering to Rainey. 

"Plenty ice from now on, Mr. Rainey. Now we bane goin' to have one hardyob on our hands, by yiminy, you an' me!"

CHAPTER IX

THE POT SIMMERS

Rainey was awakened at half past seven by the swift rush of men on deckand a confused shouting. The sun was shining brightly through hisporthole and then it became suddenly obscured. He looked out and saw aturreted mass of ice not half a cable's length away from the schooner, water cascading all over its hills and valleys, that were distinctenough, but so smoothed that the truth flashed over him. Here was a bergthat had suddenly turned turtle and exposed its greater, under-waterbulk to the air. 

About it the sea was dark and vivid blue, and the berg sparkled in thesun with prismatic reflections that gave all the hues of the rainbow toits prominences, while the bulk glowed like a fire opal. Between it andthe schooner the sea ran in a lasher of diminishing turmoil. Hansen hadcarelessly sailed too close. The momentum of the _Karluk_ and its slightwave disturbance must have sufficed to upset the equilibrium of theberg, floating with only a third of its bulk above the water. And thedisplacement had narrowly missed the schooner's side. 

He got a cup of coffee after dressing warmly, and went up. Carlsen andthe girl had preceded him and were gazing at the iceberg. The doctorseemed to be in the same rare vein of humor as overnight. Lund stood atthe rail with his beak of a nose wrinkled, snuffing toward the icy cragsthat were spouting a dazzle of white flame, set about with smaller, sudden flares of ruby, emerald and sapphire. 

"Close shave, that, Rainey, " called Carlsen. "She turned turtle on us. "

"Too close to be pleasant, " said Rainey, and went to the wheel. The girlhad given him a smile, but he marked her face as weary fromsleeplessness and strain. Rainey left the spokes in charge of Hansen fora minute--Hansen stolid and chewing like an automaton, undisturbed bythe incident now it had passed--and asked the girl how her father was. 

"I am afraid--" she began, then glanced at Carlsen. 

"He is not at all well, " said the doctor, facing Rainey, his face awayfrom the girl. As he spoke he left his mouth open for a moment, histongue showing between his white teeth, in a grin that was as mocking asthat of a wolf, mirthless, ruthless, triumphant. And for a fleetingsecond his eyes matched it. 

Rainey restrained a sudden desire to smash his fist into that sardonicmask. This was the day of Carlsen's anticipated victory, the first ofhis calculated moves toward check-mate, and he was palpably enjoying it. 

"Not--at--all--well, " repeated Carlsen slowly. "He needs something tobring him out of himself, as he now is. A little excitement. Yet heshould not be crossed in any way. We shall see. "

He shifted his position and looked at the girl much as a wolf, notparticularly hungry, might look at a tethered lamb. His tongue justtouched the inner edges of his lips. It was as if the wolf had lickedhis chops. 

"Carlsen would be a bad loser, " Lund had once said, "and a nasty winner. He'd want to rub it in as soon as he knew he had you beat. "

Rainey gripped the spokes hard until he felt the pressure of his bonesagainst the wood. Carlsen's attitude had had one good effect. Hisnervousness had disappeared, and a cold rage taken its place. He couldcheerfully have attempted to throttle Carlsen without fear of his gun. For that matter, he had faced the pistol once and come off best. What afool he had been, though, to let Carlsen regain his automatic! Now hewas anxious for the landfall, keen for the show-down. 

Far on the horizon, northward, he sighted glimmering flashes of milkywhiteness that came and went to the swing of the schooner. This couldnot be land, he decided, or they would have announced it. It was ice, pack-ice, or floes. He tried to recollect all that he had heard or readof Arctic voyages, and succeeded only in comprehending his ownignorance. Of the rapidly changing conditions the commonest sailoraboard knew more than he. Blind Lund, sniffing to windward, smelled andheard far more than he could rightfully imagine. 

Tamada appeared and announced breakfast. 

"You'll be coming later, Rainey?" asked Carlsen. "You and Lund?"

He started for the companionway and the girl followed. As she passed thewheel Rainey spoke to her:

"I am sorry your father is worse, Miss Simms, " he said. 

She looked at him with eyes that were filled with sadness, that seemedliquid with tears bravely held back. 

"I am afraid he is dying, " she answered in a low voice. "Thank you, foryou sympathy. I--"

She stopped at some slight sound that Rainey did not catch. But he sawthe face of Carlsen framed in the shadow of the companion, his mouthopen in the wolf grin, and the man's eyes were gleaming crimson. He heldup a hand for the girl. She passed down without taking it. 

Lund came over to Rainey. 

"Clear weather, they tell me?" he said. "That's unusual. Fog off theAleutians three hundred an' fifty days of the year, as a rule. Soon aswe sight land, which'll be Unalaska or thereabouts, he'll have thecourse changed. There's a considerable fleet of United States revenuecutters at Unalaska, an' Carlsen won't pull ennything until we're wellwest of there. He's pretty cocky this mornin'. Wal, we'll see. "

There had always been a certain rollicking good-humor about Lund. Thismorning he was grim, his face, with its beak of a nose and aggressivechin beneath the flaming whiskers, and his whole magnificent body gavethe impression of resolve and repressed action. Rainey fanciedwhimsically that he could hear a dynamo purring inside of the giant'smassiveness. He had seen him in open rage when he had first denouncedHonest Simms, but the serious mood was far more impressive. 

The big man stepped like a great cat, his head was thrust slightlyforward, his great hands were half open. One forgot his blindness. Despite the unsightly black lenses, Lund appeared so absolutely preparedand, in a different way, fully as confident as Carlsen. A certainaudacious assurance seemed to ooze out of him, to permeate hisneighborhood, and a measure of it extended to Rainey. 

"We'll sight Makushin first, " muttered Lund, as if to himself. 

"Makushin?"

"Volcano, fifty-seven hundred feet high. Much ice in sight?"

Rainey described the horizon. 

"All fresh-water ice, " said Lund. "An' melting. "

"Melting? It must be way below freezing, " said Rainey. Lund chuckled. 

"This ain't cold, matey. Wait till we git _north_. Never saw it lowerthan five above in Unalaska in my life. It's the rainiest spot in theU. S. A. Rains two days out of three, reg'lar. This ice is comin' out ofthe strait. Sure sign it's breakin' up. The winter freeze ain't due forsix weeks yet. "

Carlsen, before he went below, had sent a man into the fore-spreaders, and now he shouted, cupping his hands and sounding his news as if it hadbeen a call to arms. 

"_Land-ho!_"

"What is it?" called Rainey back. 

"High peak, sir. Dead ahead! Clouds on it, or smoke. "

He came sliding down the halyards to the deck as Lund said: "That'll beMakushin. Now the fun'll commence. "

From below the sailors off watch came up on deck, and the hunters, thelatter wiping their mouths, fresh from their interrupted breakfast, allcrowding forward to get a glimpse of the land. Rainey kept on thecourse, heading for the far-off volcano. Minutes passed before Carlsencame on deck. He had not hurried his meal. 

"I'll take her over, Rainey, " he said briefly. 

Rainey and Lund were barely seated before the heeling of the schoonerand the scuffle of feet told of Lund's prophesied change of course. Rainey looked at the telltale compass above his head. 

"Heading due west, " he told Lund. 

"West it is, " said the giant. "More coffee, Tamada. Fill your belly, Rainey. Get a good meal while the eatin' is good. "

Although it was Hansen's watch below, Rainey found him at the wheelinstead of the seaman he had left there. Carlsen came up to him smiling. 

"Better let Hansen have the deck, Mr. Rainey, " he said. "We're going tohave a conference in the cabin at four bells, and I'd like you to bepresent. "

"All right, sir, " Rainey answered, getting a thrill at this first actualintimation of the meeting. Hansen, it seemed, was not to be one of therepresentatives of the seamen. And Carlsen had been smart enough toforestall Lund's demand for Rainey by taking some of the wind out of thegiant's sails and doing the unexpected. Unless the hunters had suggestedthat Rainey be present. But that was hardly likely, considering that hewas to be left out of the deal. 

"In just what capacity are you callin' this conference?" Lund asked, when Carlsen notified him in turn. "The skipper ain't dead is he?"

"I represent the captain, Lund, " replied the doctor. "He entirelyapproves of what I am about to suggest to you and the men. In fact Ihave his signature to a document that I hope you will sign also. It willbe greatly to your interest to do so. I am in present charge of the_Karluk_. "

"You ain't a reg'lar member of this expedition, " objected Lund stolidly. "Neither am I a member of the crew, just now. But the skipper's mypartner in this deal, signed, sealed and recorded. Afore I go to ennymeetin' I'd like to have a talk with him personally. Thet's fair enough, ain't it?"

Several of the hunters had gathered about, and Lund's question seemed ageneral appeal. Carlsen shrugged his shoulders. 

"If you had your eyesight, " he said almost brutally, "you could soon seethat the skipper was in no condition to discuss matters, much less bepresent. "

"Here's my eyesight, " countered Lund. "Mr. Rainey here. Let him see theskipper and ask him a question or two. "

"What kind of question? I'm asking as his doctor, Lund. "

"For one thing if he's read the paper you say he signed. I want to besure of that. An' I don't make it enny of yore bizness, Carlsen, what Iwant to say to my partner, by proxy or otherwise. Second thing, I'd liketo be sure he's still alive. As for yore standin' as his doctor, allI've got to say is that yo're a damned pore doctor, so fur as theskipper's concerned, ennyway. "

The two men stood facing each other, Carlsen looking evilly at thegiant, whose black glasses warded off his glance. It was wasting looksto glare at a blind man. Equally to sneer. But the bout between the twowas timed now, and both were casting aside any veneer of diplomacy, their enmity manifesting itself in the raw. The issue was growing tense. 

Rainey fancied that Carlsen was not entirely sure of his following, andrelied upon Lund's indignant refusal of terms to back up his plans ofgetting rid of him decisively. 

CHAPTER X

THE SHOW-DOWN

"Rainey can see the skipper, " said Carlsen carelessly. 

"All right, " said Lund. "Will you do that, Rainey? Now?" And Rainey hada fleeting fancy that the giant winked one of his blind eyes at him, though the black lenses were deceiving. 

He went below immediately and rapped on the door, a little surprised tosee the girl appear in the opening. He had expected to find the skipperalone, and he was pretty sure that Carlsen had also expected this. Thedrawn expression of her face, the strained faint smile with which shegreeted him, the hopeless look in her eyes, startled him. 

"I wanted to see your father, " he said in a low voice. 

She told him to enter. 

Captain Simms was lying in his bunk, apparently fully dressed, with theexception of his shoes. His cheeks had sunken, dark hollows showed underhis closed eyes, the bones of his skull projected, and his flesh was thecolor of clay. Rainey believed that he was in the presence of deathitself. He looked at the girl. 

"He is in a stupor, " she said. "He has been that way since last night, following a collapse. I can barely find his pulse, but his breath showson this. "

She produced a small mirror, little larger than a dollar, and held itbefore her father's lips. When she took it away Rainey saw a trace ofmoisture. 

"Carlsen can not rouse him?" he asked. 

"Can not--or will not, " she answered in a voice that held a hard qualityfor all its despondency. Rainey glanced at the door. It was shut. 

"What do you mean by that?" he asked, speaking low. 

She looked at him as if measuring his dependency. 

"I don't know, " she answered dully. "I wish I did. Father's illnessstarted with sciatica, through exposure to the cold and damp. It wasbetter during the time the _Karluk_ was in San Francisco though he hadsome severe attacks. He said that Doctor Carlsen gave him relief. I knowthat he did, for there were days at first when father had to stay in bedfrom the pain. It was in his left leg, and then it showed in frightfulheadaches, and he complained of pain about the heart. But he was bent onthe voyage, and Doctor Carlsen guaranteed he could pull him through. But--lately--the doctor has seemed uncertain. He talks of pervertednerve functions, and he has obtained a tremendous influence over father. 

"You heard what he said when--the night he tried to shoot you? You see, I am trusting you in all this, Mr. Rainey. I _must_ trust some one. If Idon't I can't stand it. I think I shall go mad sometimes. The doctor haschanged. It is as if he was a dual personality--like Jekyll andHyde--and now he is always Hyde. It is the gold that has turned hisbrain, his whole behavior from what he was in California before fatherreturned and he learned of the island. He said last night that he couldsave father or--or--that he would let father die. I told him it wassheer murder! He laughed. He said he would save him--for a price. "

She stopped, and Rainey supplied the gap, sure that he was right. 

"If you would marry him?"

The girl nodded. "Father will do anything he tells him. I sometimesthink he tortures father and only relieves him when father promises whathe wants. Otherwise I could not understand. Last night father asked meto do this thing. Not because of any threat--he did not seem consciousof anything underhanded. He told me he looked upon the doctor as a son, that it would make him happy for me to marry him--now. That he wouldperform the ceremony. That he did not think he would live long and hewanted to see me with a protector. 

"It was horrible. I dare not hint anything against the doctor. It bringson a nervous attack. Last night my refusal caused convulsions, andthen--the collapse! What can I do? If I made the sacrifice how can Itell that Doctor Carlsen could--_would_ save him? What shall I do?"

She was in an agony of self-questioning, of doubt. 

"To see him lie there--like that. I can not bear it. "

"Miss Simms, " said Rainey, "your father is not in his right mind or hewould see Carlsen as you do, as I do. Carlsen's brain is turned with thelure of the gold. If he marries you, I believe it is only for yourshare, for what you will get from your father. It can not be right to doa wrong thing. No good could come from it. But--something may happenthis morning--I can not tell you what. I do not know, except that Lundis to face Carlsen. It may change matters. "

"Lund, " she said scornfully. "What can he do? And he accused my fatherof deserting him. I--"

A knock came at the door, and it started to open. Carlsen entered. 

"Ah, " he said. "I trust I have not disturbed you. I had no idea I shouldinterrupt a tête-á-tête. Are you satisfied as to the captain'scondition, Mr. Rainey?"

Rainey looked the scoffing devil full in his eyes, and hot scorn mountedto his own so swiftly that Carlsen's hand fell away from the door jambtoward his hip. Then he laughed softly. 

"We may be able to bring him round, all right again, who knows?" hesaid. 

Rainey went on deck, raging but impotent. He told Lund briefly of thetalk between him and Peggy Simms, and described the general symptoms ofthe skipper's strange malady. It was nine o'clock, an hour to themeeting. He went down to his own room and sat on the bunk, smoking, trying to piece up the puzzle. If Carlsen was a potential murderer, ifhe intended to let Simms die, why should he want to marry the girl? Hethought he solved that issue. 

As his wife Carlsen would retain her share. If he gave her up, it wouldgo into the common purse. But, if he expected to trick the men out of itall, that would be unnecessary. Did he really love the girl? Or was hislust for gold mingled with a passion for possession of her? He mightknow that the girl would kill herself before she would submit todishonor. Perhaps he knew she had the means!

One thing became paramount. To save Peggy Simms. Lund might fight forthe gold; Rainey would battle for the girl's sanctity. And, armed withthat resolve, Rainey went out into the main cabin. 

Carlsen took the head of the table. Lund faced him at the other end. Allsix of the hunters, as privileged characters, were present, but onlythree of the seamen, awkward and diffident at being aft. The nine, withRainey, ranged themselves on either side of the table, five and five, with Rainey on Lund's right. 

Tamada had brought liquor and glasses and cigars, and gone forward. Thedoor between the main cabin and the corridor leading to the galley waslocked after him by Deming. The girl was not present. Yet her share wasan important factor. 

Lund sat with folded arms, his great body relaxed. Now that the tablewas set, the cards all dealt, and the first play about to be made, thegiant shed his tenseness. Even his grim face softened a trifle. Heseemed to regard the affair with a certain amount of humor, coupled withthe zest of a gambler who loves the game whether the stakes are fordeath or dollars. 

Carlsen had a paper under his hand, but deferred its reading until hehad addressed the meeting. 

"A ship, " he said, "is a little community, a world in itself. To itssafety every member is a necessity, the lookout as much as the man atthe wheel, the common seaman, the navigator. And, when a ship is engagedin a certain calling, those who are hired as experts in that line areequally essential with the rest. "

"All the way from captain to--cook?" drawled Lund. 

"Each depends upon his comrade's fulfilment of duty, " went on Carlsen. "So an absolute equality is evolved. Each man's responsibility beingequal, his reward should be also equal. It seems to me that this statusof affairs is arrived at more naturally aboard the _Karluk_ than itmight be elsewhere. We are a small company, and not easily divided. Thewill of the majority may easily become that of all, may easily beapplied. 

"Payment for all services comes on this voyage from an uncertain amountof gold that Nature, Mother of us all, and therefore intending that allher children shall share her heritage, has washed up on a beach fromsome deep-sea vein and thus deposited upon an uncharted, unclaimedisland. It is discovered by an Indian, the discovery is handed on toanother. "

"Meanin' me. " Lund seemed to be enjoying himself. Despite the fact thatCarlsen was presiding and most evidently assumed the attributes ofleader, despite the fact that ten of the twelve at the table werearrayed against him, with the rest of the seamen behind them, Lund wasdecidedly enjoying himself. 

To Rainey, the matter of the gold was but a mask for the license thatwould inevitably be manifested in such a crude democracy if it wasestablished, a license that threatened the girl, now, he imagined, watching her father, the captain of the vessel, tottering on the vergeof death. His pulses raced, he longed for the climax. 

"This gold, " went on Carlsen, "is not a commodity made in a factory, obtained through the toil of others, through the expenditure ofcapital. If it were, it would not alter the principle of the thing. Itis of nature's own providing for those of her sons who shall find it andgather it. Sons that, as brothers, must willingly share and sharealike. "

Lund yawned, showing his strong teeth and the red cavern of his mouth. The hunters gazed at him curiously. The seamen, lacking initiative, lacking imagination, a crude collection of water-front drifters, more orless wrecked specimens of humanity who went to sea because they had noother capacity--were apathetic, listening to Carlsen with a sort of awe, a hypnosis before his argument that street rabble exhibit before thejargon of a soap-box orator. 

Carlsen promised them something, therefore they followed him. But thehunters, more independent, more intelligent, seemed expecting anoutburst from Lund and, because it was not forthcoming, they were alittle uneasy. 

"Share and share alike, " said Lund. "I've got yore drift, Carlsen. Let'sget down to brass tacks. The idea is to divvy the gold into equalparts, ain't it? How does she split? There's twenty-five souls aboard. Does that mean you split the heap into a hundred parts an' each one gitsfour?"

"No. " It was Deming who answered. "It don't. The Jap don't come in, forone. "

"A cook ain't a brother?"

"Not when he's got a yellow skin, " answered Deming. "We'll take up acollection for Sandy. Rainey ain't in on the deal. We split it justtwenty-two ways. What have you got to say about it?"

His tone was truculent, and Carlsen did not appear disposed to checkhim. He appeared not quite certain of the temper of the hunters. Deming, like Rainey, evidently chafed under the preliminaries. 

"You figger we're all equal aboard, " said Lund slowly, "leavin' out Mr. Rainey, Tamada an' Sandy. You an' me, an' Carlsen an' Harris there"--henodded toward one of the seaman delegates who listened with his slackmouth agape, scratching himself under the armpit--"are all equal?"

Deming cast a glance at Harris and, for just a moment, hesitated. 

Harris squirming under the look of Deming, which was aped by the suddenscrutiny of all the hunters, found speech: "How in hell did you know Iwas here?" he demanded of Lund. "I ain't opened my mouth yit!"

"That ain't the truth, Harris, " replied Lund composedly. "It's allusopen. But if you want to know, I smelled ye. "

There was a guffaw at the sally. Carlsen's voice stopped it. 

"I'll answer the question, Lund. Yes, we're all equal. The world is nota democracy. Harris, so far, hasn't had a chance to get the equal sharethat belongs to him by rights. That's what I meant by saying that the_Karluk_ was a little world of its own. We're all equal on board. "

"Except Rainey, Tamada an' Sandy. Seems to me yore argumint's got holesin it, Carlsen. "

"We are waiting to know whether you agree with us?" replied Carlsen. Hisvoice had altered quality. It held the direct challenge. Lund acceptedit. 

"I don't, " he answered dryly. "There ain't enny one of you my equal, an'you've showed it. There ain't enny one of you, from Carlsen to Harris, who'd have the nerve to put it up to me alone. You had to band togetherin a pack, like a flock of sheep, with Carlsen for sheepherder. _I'mtalking_, " he went on in a tone that suddenly leaped to thunder. "Noneof you have got the brains of Carlsen, becoz he had to put this schemeinter yore noddles. Deming, you think yo're a better man than Harris, you know damn' well you play better poker than the rest, an' you agreedto this becoz you figger you'll win most of the gold afore the v'yage isover. The rest of you suckers listened becoz some one tells you you aregoin' to get more than what's rightly comin' to you. 

"This gold is mine by right of discovery. I lose my ship through badluck, an' I make a deal whereby the skipper gets the same as I do, an'the ship, which is the same as his daughter, gets almost as much. Youmen were offered a share on top of yore wages if you wanted to take thechance--two shares to the hunters. It was damned liberal, an' yougrabbed at it. I got left on the ice, blind on a breakin' floe, an' yousailed off an' grabbed a handful or so of gold, enough to set you crazy. 

"What in blazes would you know what to do with it, enny of you? Spill itall along the Barb'ry Coast, or gamble it off to Deming. Is there one ofyou 'ud have got off thet floe an', blind as I was, turned up ag'in? Notone of ye. An' when I _did_ show you got sore becoz you'd figgered there'ud be more with me away. 

"A fine lot of skunks. You can take yore damned bit of paper an' lightyore pipes with it, for all of me. To hell with it!

"_Shut up_!" His voice topped the murmurs at the table. Rainey sawCarlsen sitting back with his tongue-tip showing in a grin, tapping thetable with the folded paper in one hand, the other in his lap, leaningback a little. He was like a man waiting for the last bet to be madebefore he exposed the winning hand. 

"As for bein' equal, I've told you Carlsen's got the brains of you all. The skipper's dyin', Carlsen expects to marry his gal. An' he figgersthet way on pullin' down three shares to yore one. You say Rainey ain'tin on the deal. He's as much so as Carlsen. Carlsen butts in as a doctoran' a fine job he's made of it. Skipper nigh dead. A hell of a doctor!Smoke up, all of you. "

Carlsen sat quiet, sometimes licking his lips gently, listening to Lundas he might have listened to the rantings of a melodramatic actor. ButRainey sensed that he was making a mistake. He was letting Lund go toofar. The men were listening to Lund, and he knew that the giant wastalking for a specific purpose. Just to what end he could not guess. The big booming voice held them, while it lashed them. 

"Equal to me? Bah! I'm a _man_. Yo're a lot of fools. Talk about mebein' blind. It was ice-blink got me. Then ophthalmy matterin' up myeyes. It's gold-blink's got you. Yo're cave-fish, a lot of blindsuckers. "

He leaned over the table pointing a massive square finger, thatched withred wool, direct at Carlsen, as if he had been leveling a weapon. 

"Carlsen's a fake! He's got you hipped. He thinks he's boss, becoz he'sthe only navigator of yore crowd. I ain't overlooked that card, Carlsen. That ain't the only string he's got on ye. Nor the three shares heexpects to pull down. He made you pore suckers fire off all your shells;he found out you ain't got a gun left among you that's enny more usethan a club. He's got a gun an' he showed you how he could use it. He'ssittin' back larfin' at the bunch of you!"

The men stirred. Rainey saw Carlsen's grin disappear. He dropped thepaper. His face paled, the veins showed suddenly like purple veins indirty marble. 

"I've got that gun yet, Lund, " he snarled. 

Lund laughed, the ring of it so confident that the men glanced from himto Carlsen nervously. 

"Yo're a fake, Carlsen, " he said. "And I've got yore number! To hellwith you an' yore popgun. You ain't even a doctor. I saw real doctorsashore about my eyes. Niphablepsia, they call snow-blindness. I'll betyou never heard of it. Yo're only a woman-conning dope-shooter! Elseyou'd have known that niphablepsia ain't _permanent_! I've bin' gettin'my sight back ever sence I left Seattle. An' now, damn you for a moldyhearted, slimy souled fakir, stand up an' say yo're my equal!"

He stood up himself, towering above the rest as they rose from theirchairs, tearing the black glasses from his eyes and flinging them atCarlsen, who was forced to throw up a hand to ward them off. Rainey gotone glimpse of the giant's eyes. They were gray-blue, the color ofagate-ware, hard as steel, implacable. 

Carlsen swept aside the spectacles and they shattered on the floor as heleaped up and the automatic shone in his hand. Lund had folded his armsabove his great chest. He laughed again, and his arms opened. 

In an instant Rainey caught the object of Lund's speech-making. He haddone it to enrage Carlsen beyond endurance, to make him draw his gun. Giant as he was, he moved with the grace of a panther, with a swiftnesstoo fast for the eye to register. Something flashed in his right hand, agun, that he had drawn from a holster slung over his left breast. 

The shots blended. Lund stood there erect, uninjured. A red blotchshowed between Carlsen's eyes. He slumped down into his chair, his armsclubbing the table, his gun falling from his nerveless hand, hisforehead striking the wood like the sound of an auctioneer's gavel. Lundhad beaten him to the draw. 

Lund, no longer a blind Samson, with contempt in his agate eyes, surveyed the scattering group of men who stared at the dead man dully, as if gripped by the exhibition of a miracle. 

"It's all right, Miss Simms, " he said. "Jest killed a skunk. Rainey, gitthat gun an' attend to the young lady, will you?"

The girl stood in the doorway of her father's cabin, her face frozen tohorror, her eyes fixed on Lund with repulsion. As Rainey got theautomatic, slipped it into his pocket, and went toward her, she shrankfrom him. But her voice was for Lund. 

"You murderer!" she cried. 

Lund grinned at her, but there was no laughter in his eyes. 

"We'll thrash that out later, miss, " he said. "Now, you men, jumpfor'ard, all of you. Deming, unlock that door. _Jump!_ Equals, are you?I'll show you who's master on this ship. Wait!"

His voice snapped like the crack of a whip and they all halted, saveDeming, who sullenly fitted the key to the lock of the corridorentrance. 

"Take this with you, " said Lund, pointing to Carlsen's sagging body. "When you git tired of his company, throw him overboard. Jump to it!"

The nearest men took up the body of the doctor and they all filedforward, silently obedient to the man who ordered them. 

"They ain't all whipped yit, " said Lund. "Not them hunters. They'restill sufferin' from gold-blink, but I'll clean their eyesight for 'em. Look after the lady an' her father, Rainey. "

Tamada entered as if nothing had happened. He carried a tray of dishesand cutlery that he laid down on the table. 

"Never mind settin' a place for Carlsen, Tamada, " said Lund. "He's losthis appetite--permanent. " The Oriental's face did not change. 

"Yes, sir, " he answered. 

The girl shuddered. Rainey saw that Lund was exhilarated by hisvictory, that the primitive fighting brute was prominent. Carlsen hadtried to shoot first, goaded to it; his death was deserved; but itseemed to Rainey that Lund's exhibition of savagery was unnecessary. Buthe also saw that Lund would not heed any protest that he might make, hewas still swept on by his course of action, not yet complete. 

"I'll borrow Carlsen's sextant, " said Lund. "Nigh noon, an' erbout timeI got our reckonin'. " He went into the doctor's cabin and came out withthe instrument, tucking it under his arm as he went on deck. 

Tamada went stolidly on with his preparations. He paused at the littlepuddle of blood where Carlsen's head had struck the table, turned, anddisappeared toward his galley, promptly emerging with a wet cloth. 

The girl put her hands over her eyes as Tamada methodically mopped upthe telltale stains. 

"The brute!" she said. Then took away her hands and extended them towardRainey. 

"What will he do with my father?" she said. "He thinks that dad desertedhim. And the doctor, who might have saved him, is dead. My God, whatshall I do? What shall I do?"

Rainey found himself murmuring some attempts at consolation, a defenseof Lund. 

"You too?" she said with a contempt that, unmerited as it was, stungRainey to the quick. "You are on his side. Oh!"

She wheeled into her father's room and shut the door. Rainey heard theclick of the bolt on the other side. Tamada was going on with histable-laying. Rainey saw that he had left Carlsen's place vacant. Helistened for a moment, but heard nothing within the skipper's cabin. Theswift rush of events was still a jumble. Slowly he went up thecompanionway to the deck. 

CHAPTER XI

HONEST SIMMS

Lund greeted Rainey with a curt nod. Hansen was still at the helm. Thecrew on duty were standing about alert, their eyes on Lund. They hadfound a new master, and they were cowed, eager to do their best. 

"It ain't noon yet, " said Lund. "I hardly need to shoot the sun with theland that close. "

Rainey looked over the starboard bow to where a series of peaks andlower humps of dark blue proclaimed the Aleutian island bridgestretching far to the west. 

"I'll show this crew they've got a skipper aboard, " said Lund. "How'sthe cap'en?"

Rainey told him. 

"We'll see what we can do for him, " said Lund. "He's better off withoutthat fakir, that's a cinch. Called me a murderer, " he went on with agood-humored laugh. "Got spunk, she has. And she's a trim bit. A slip ofa gal, but she's game. An' good-lookin' eh, Rainey?"

He shot a keen glance at the newspaperman. 

"You're in her bad hooks, too, ain't ye? We'll fix that after a bit. Shedon't know when she's well off. Most wimmin don't. An' she's the sortthat needs handlin' right. She's upset now, natural, an' she hates me. "

He smiled as if the prospect suited him. A suspicion leaped intoRainey's brain. Lund had said he would not see a decent girl harmed. Butthe man was changed. He had fought and won, and victory shone in hiseyes with a glitter that was immune from sympathy, for all his air ofgood-nature. 

He had said that a man under his skin was just an animal. His appraisalof the girl struck Rainey with apprehension. "To the victor belong thespoils. " Somehow the quotation persisted. What if Lund regarded the girlas legitimate loot? He might have talked differently beforehand, toassure himself of Rainey's support. 

And Rainey suddenly felt as if his support had been uncalled upon, afrail reed at best. Lund had not needed him, would he need him, save asan aid, not altogether necessary, with Hansen aboard, to run the ship?

He said nothing, but thrust both hands into the side pockets of thepilot coat he had acquired from the ship's stores. The sudden touch ofcold steel gave him new courage. He had sworn to protect the girl. IfLund, seeming more like a pirate than ever, with his cold eyes sweepingthe horizon, his bulk casting Rainey's into a dwarf's by comparison, attempted to harm Peggy Simms, Rainey resolved to play the part ofchampion. 

He could not shoot like Lund, but he was armed. There were undoubtedlymore cartridges in the clip. And he must secure the rest from Carlsen'scabin immediately. 

The sun reached its height, and Lund busied himself with his sextant. Rainey determined to ask him to teach him the use of it. His consent orrefusal would tell him where he stood with Lund. 

He felt the mastery of the man. And he felt incompetent beside him. Carlsen had been right. A ship at sea was a little world of its own, andLund was now lord of it. A lord who would demand allegiance and enforceit. He held the power of life and death, not by brute force alone. Hewas the only navigator aboard, with the skipper seriously ill. As suchalone he held them in his hand, once they were out of sight of land. 

"Hansen, " said Lund, "Mr. Rainey'll relieve you after we've eaten. Comeon, Rainey. You ain't lost yore appetite, I hope. Watch me discard thatspoon for a knife an' fork. I don't have to play blind man enny longer. "

Food did not appeal to Rainey. He could not help thinking of the spotunder the cloth where Tamada had wiped up the blood of the man justkilled by Lund, sitting opposite him, making play for a double helpingof victuals. 

It was Lund's apparent callousness that affected him more than his ownsqueamishness. He could not regret Carlsen's death. With the doctoralive, his own existence would have been a constant menace. But he wasnot used to seeing a killing, though, in his water-front detail, he hadnot been unacquainted with grim tragedies of the sea. 

It was Lund's demeanor that gripped him. The giant had dismissed Carlsenas unceremoniously as he might have flipped the ash from a cigar, ortossed the stub overside. 

"I've got to tackle those hunters, " Lund said. "I expect trouble there, sooner or later. But I'm goin' to lay down the law to 'em. If they comeclean, well an' good, they git their original two shares. If not, theydon't get a plugged nickel. An' Deming's the one who'll stir up thetrouble, take it from me. Tell Hansen to turn in his watch-off, I shan'ttake a deck for a day or two, you'll have to go on handlin' it betweenyou. I've got to make my peace with the gal, an' do what I can with theskipper. "

"She'll not make peace easily. But the skipper's in a bad way. "

Lund lit his pipe. 

"I'd jest as soon it was war. I don't see as we can help the skippermuch 'less we try reverse treatment of what Carlsen did. If we knew whatthat was? If he gits worse she'll let us know, I reckon. Mebbe you cansuggest somethin'?"

Rainey shook his head. 

"I suppose she can do more than any of us, " he said. 

Lund nodded, then whistled to Tamada, leaving the cabin. 

"Take a bottle of whisky to the hunters' mess, with my compliments. That'll give 'em about three jolts apiece, " he said to Rainey. "Long aswe've won out we may as well let 'em down easy. But they'll work fortheir shares, jest the same. A drink or two may help 'em swaller whatI'm goin' to give 'em by way of dessert in the talkin' line. See youlater. "

Rainey took the dismissal and went up to the relief of Hansen. He didnot mention what had happened until the Scandinavian referred to itindirectly. 

"They put the doc overboard, sir, soon's Mr. Lund an' you bane gobelow. "

It seemed a summary dismissal of the dead, without ceremony. Yet, forthe rite to be authentic, Lund must have presided, and the sea-burialservice would have been a mockery under the circumstances. It was thebest thing to have done, Rainey felt, but he could not avoid a mentalshiver at the thought of the man, so lately vital, his brain alive withenergy, sliding through the cold water to the ooze to lie there, sodden, swinging with the sub-sea currents until the ocean scavengers claimedhim. 

"All right, Hansen, " he said in answer, and the man hurried off afterhis extra detail. 

Lund came up after a while, and Rainey told him of the fate of Carlsen'sbody. 

"I figgered they'd do about that, " commented Lund. "They savvied he'daimed to make suckers out of 'em, an' they dumped him. But they ain't onour side, by a long sight. Not that I give a damn. If they want to sulk, let 'em sulk. But they'll stand their watches, an', when we git to thebeach, they'll do their share of diggin'. If they need drivin', I'lldrive 'em. 

"That Deming is a better man than I thought. He's the main grouch among'em. Said if I hadn't had a gun he'd have tackled me in the cabin. Meantit, too, though I'd have smashed him. He's sore becoz I said he warn'tmy equal. I told him, enny time he wanted to try it out, I'd accommodatehim. He didn't take it up, an' they'll kid him about it. He'll pack agrudge. I ain't afraid of their knifin' me, not while the skipper'ssick. They need me to navigate. "

"This might be a good chance for me to handle a sextant, " suggestedRainey casually. 

Lund shook his head, smiling, but his eyes hard. 

"Not yet, matey, " he said. "Not that I don't trust you, but for me to bethe only one, jest now, is a sort of life insurance that suits me tocarry. They might figger, if you was able to navigate, that they c'udput the screws on you to carry 'em through, with me out of the way. Idon't say they could, but they might make it hard for you, an' you ain'tgot quite the same stake in this I have. "

Here was cold logic, but Rainey saw the force of it. Hansen came upearly to split the watch and put their schedule right again, and Lundwent below with Rainey. Lund ordered Tamada to bring a bottle andglasses, and they sat down at the table. Rainey needed the kick of adrink, and took one. 

As Lund was raising his glass with a toast of "Here's to luck, " theskipper's door opened and the girl appeared. She looked like a ghost. Her hair was disheveled and her eyes stared at them without seemingrecognition. But she spoke, in a flat toneless voice. 

"My father is dead! I--" she faltered, swayed, and seemed to swoon asshe sank toward the floor. Rainey darted forward, but Lund was quickerand swooped her up in his arms as if she had been a feather, took her tothe table, set her in a chair, dabbled a napkin in some water andapplied it to her brows. 

"Chafe her wrists, " he ordered Rainey. "Undo that top button of herblouse. That's enough; she ain't got on corsets. She'll come through. Plumb worn out. That's all. "

He handled her, deftly, as a nurse would a child. Rainey chafed theslender wrists and beat her palms, and soon she opened her eyes andsighed. Then she pulled away from Lund, bending over her, and got to herfeet. 

"I must go to my father, " she said. "He is dead. "

They followed her into the cabin, and Lund bent over the bunk. 

"Looks like it, " he whispered to Rainey. Then he tore open the skipper'svest and shirt and laid his head on his chest. The girl made a faintmotion as if to stop him, but did not hinder him. She was at the end ofher own strength from weariness and worry. Lund suddenly raised hishead. 

"There's a flutter, " he announced. "He ain't gone yit. Get Tamada an'some brandy. "

The Japanese, by some intuition, was already on hand, and produced thebrandy. Rainey poured out a measure. The captain's teeth were tightlyclenched. Lund spraddled one great hand across his jaws, pressing attheir junction, forcing them apart, firmly, but gently enough, whileRainey squeezed in a few drops of brandy from the corner of his soakedhandkerchief. Lund stroked the sick man's throat, and he swallowedautomatically. 

"More brandy, " ordered Lund. 

With the next dose there came signs of revival, a low moan from theskipper. The girl flew to his side. Tamada, standing by with thebottle, stepped forward, handed the brandy to Rainey, and rolled up thelid of an eye, looking closely at the pupil. 

"I study medicine at Tokio, " he said. 

"Why didn't ye say so before?" demanded Lund. It did not occur to any ofthem to doubt Tamada's word. There was an air of professional assuranceand an efficiency about him that carried weight. "What can you do forhim? There's a medicine chest in Carlsen's room. "

"I was hired to cook, " said Tamada quietly. "I should not have beenpermit to interfere. It is not my business if a white man makes a foolof himself. Now we want morphine and hypodermic syringe. "

Tamada rolled up the captain's sleeve. The flesh, shrunken, pallid, wasclosely spotted with dot-like scars that showed livid, as if the captainhad been suffering from some strange rash. 

Lund whistled softly. Rainey, too, knew what it meant. The skipper hadbeen a veritable slave to the drug. Carlsen had administered it, prescribed it, used it as a means to bring Simms under his subjection. The girl looked strangely at Tamada. 

"Would he have taken that for sciatica?" she asked. 

"I think, perhaps, yes. Injection over muscle gives relief. Sometimesmakes cure. But Captain Simms take too much. Suppose this supply cut offvery suddenly, then come too much chills, maybe collapse, maybe--" Thegirl clutched his arm. 

"You meant more than you said. It might mean death?"

"I don't know, " replied Tamada gravely. "Perhaps, if now we havemorphine, presently we give him smaller dose every time, it will be allright. " He lifted up the sick man's hand and examined the nailscritically. They were broken, brittle. 

Rainey had gone to Carlsen's room in search of the drug and theinjecting needle. 

"How much d'ye suppose he took at once?" Lund asked the Japanese in alow voice. 

"Fifteen grains, I think. Maybe more. Too much! Always too much drug inhis veins. Much worse than opium for man. "

"Carlsen's work, " growled Lund. "Increased the stuff on him till hecouldn't do without it. Made him a slave to dope an' Carlsen his boss. He deserved killin' jest for that, the skunk. "

Rainey frantically searched through the medicine chest and, finding onlyfive tablets marked _Morphine 1 gr. _ in a bottle, sought elsewhere invain. And he could find no needle. But he ran across some automaticcartridges and put them in his pockets before he hurried back. 

"This is not enough, " said Tamada. "And we should have needle. But Idissolve these in galley. " And he hurried out. The girl had slipped downon her knees beside the bed, holding her father's hand against her lips, her eyes closed. She seemed to be praying. 

Rainey and Lund looked at each other. Rainey was trying to recallsomething. It came at last, the memory of Carlsen slipping something inhis pocket as he had come out of the captain's room. That had been thehypodermic case! As the thought lit up' his eyes he saw a flash inLund's. 

"Carlsen had the morphine on him, " said Lund in a whisper, not todisturb the girl. 

"And the needle!" said Rainey. "What if?" He raced out of the cabinforward, passing Tamada, coming out of the galley with the dissolvedtablets in a glass that steamed with hot water. Swiftly he told hissuspicions. 

"They may have searched him first, " he said, and went on to the hunters'cabin. They were seated about their table, talking. On seeing Raineythey stopped abruptly and viewed him suspiciously. Deming rose. 

"What's the idea?" he asked and his tone was not friendly. 

Rainey hurriedly explained. Deming shrugged his shoulders. 

"They sewed him up in canvas in the fo'k'le, " he said indifferently. "None of us went through him. I think they made the kid do the job. "

Rainey found Sandy in his bunk, asleep, trying to get one of the catnapsby which he made up his lack of definitely assigned rest. The roustaboutwoke with a shudder, flinching under Rainey's hand. 

"They made me do it, " he said in answer. "None of 'em 'ud touch it tillI had it sewed in an old staysail, an' a boatkedge tied on for weight. Ididn't go inter his pockets. I was scared to touch it more'n I had to. "

"Is that the truth, Sandy? I don't care what you took besides thislittle case and a bottle of tablets. You can keep the rest. "

"It's the bloody truth, Mister Rainey, s'elp me, " whined Sandy. And thetruth was in his shifty eyes. 

Rainey went back with his news. He imagined that the five grains wouldprove temporarily sufficient. And they could put in for Unalaska. Therewere surgeons there with the revenue fleet. He thought there wasprobably a hospital. 

They would have to explain Carlsen's death. They would be asked aboutthe purpose of the voyage, the crew examined. It might mean detention, the defeat of the expedition, the very thing that Lund had feared, thefollowing of them to the island. He wondered how Lund would take to theplan. 

He found that Tamada had administered the morphine. Already thebeneficial results were apparent. The dry, frightfully sallow skin hadchanged and Simms was breathing freely while Tamada, feeling his pulse, nodded affirmatively to the girl's questioning glance. 

"Got it?" asked Lund. 

Rainey gave the result of his search. 

"We'll have to put in to Unalaska, " he said. "There are doctors there. "The girl turned toward Lund. He smiled at the intensity of her gaze andpose. 

"I play fair, Miss Peggy, " he said. "Rainey, change the course. "

Peggy Simms seized Lund's great paw in both her hands, and, for thefirst time, the tears overflowed her eyes. The _Karluk_ came about asRainey reached the deck and gave his orders. Then he returned to thecabin. The captain had opened his eyes. 

"Peggy!" he murmured. "Carlsen, where is he? Lund! Good God, Lund, youcan see?"

"Keep quiet as you can, " said Tamada. Something in his voice made theskipper shift his look to the Japanese. 

"Where's Carlsen?" he asked again. 

"He can't come now, " said Tamada. 

Under the urge of the drug the skipper's brain seemed abnormally clear, his intuition heightened. 

"Carlsen's dead?" he asked. Then, shifting to Lund. "You killed him, Jim?"

Lund nodded. 

"How much morphine did you give me?"

"Five grains. "

"It's not enough. It won't last. _There isn't any more?_" he flashedout, with sudden energy, trying to raise himself. 

"We're puttin' in for Unalaska, Simms, " said Lund. 

"How far?"

"'Bout seventy miles. "

"Then it's too late. Too late. The pain's shifted of late--to my heart. It'll get me presently. "

The girl darted a look of hate at Lund, an accusation that he metcomposedly, swift as the change had come from the almost reverence withwhich she had clasped his hand. 

"I'll be gone in an hour or two, " said the skipper. "Got to talk whilethis lasts. Jim--about leavin' you that time. I could have come back. Ihad words about it--with Hansen. He knows. But the gale was bad, an' theice. It wasn't the gold, Jim. I swear it. I had the ship an' crew tolook out for. An' Peggy, at home. 

"I might have gone back sooner, Jim, I'll own up to that. But it wasn'tthe gold that did it. An'--I didn't hear what you shouted, Jim. Thestorm came up. We were frozen by the time we found the ship. Numb. 

"Then, then; oh, God, my heart!" He sat upright, clutching at his chest, his face convulsed with spasms of pain. Tamada got some brandy betweenthe chattering teeth. Sweat poured out on the skipper's forehead, and hesank back, exhausted but temporarily relieved. The girl wiped his brows. 

"It'll get me next attack, " he said presently in a weak voice. "Jim, this trouble hit me the day after we left the floe. Not sciatica, atfirst, but in the head. I couldn't think right. I was just numb in thebrain. An' when it cleared off, it was too late. The ice had closed. Wecouldn't go back. I read up in my medical book, Jim, later, when thesciatica took me. 

"Had to take to my bunk. Couldn't stand. I had morphine, an' it relievedme. Took too much after a while. Had to have it. Got better in SanFrancisco for a bit. Then Carlsen prescribed it. Morphine was my boss, an' then Carlsen, he was boss of the morphine. Seemed like--seemedlike--_More brandy, Tamada_. "

His voice was weaker when he spoke again. They came closer to catch hiswhispers. 

"Carlsen--mind wasn't my own. Peggy--I wasn't in my right mind, honey. Not when--Carlsen--he was angel when he gave me what Iwanted--devil--when he wouldn't. Made me--do things. But he's dead. AndI'm going. Never reach Unalaska. Peggy--forgive. Meant forbest--but--not in right mind. Jim--it wasn't the gold. Not Peggy'sfault--anyway. "

"She'll get hers, Simms, " said Lund. "Yours too. "

The skipper's eyes closed and his frame settled under the clothes. Thegirl flung herself on the bed in uncontrollable weeping. Lund raised hiseyebrows at Tamada, who shrugged his shoulders. 

"Better get out o' here, " whispered Lund. He and Rainey went outtogether. In a few minutes Tamada joined them, his face sphinxlike asever. 

"He is dead, " he said. 

Rainey and Lund went on deck. The schooner thrashed toward the volcano, the bearing-mark for Unalaska, hidden behind it. They paced up and downin silence. 

"I guess he was 'Honest Simms, ' after all, " said Lund at last. "The galblames me for the morphine, but Carlsen never meant him to live. She'llsee that after a bit, mebbe. "

Rainey glanced at him curiously. He was getting fresh lights on Lund. 

Then the girl appeared, pale, composed, coming straight up to Lund, whohalted his stride at sight of her. 

"Will you change the course, Mr. Lund?" she said. 

He looked at her in surprise. 

"Father spoke once more. After you left. He does not want you to go onto Unalaska. He said it would mean a rush for the gold; perhaps youwould have to stay there. He does not want you to lose the gold. Hewants me to have my share. He made me promise. And he wants--hewants"--she bit her lip fiercely in repression of her feelings--"to beburied at sea. That was his last request. "

She turned and looked over the rail, struggling to wink back her tears. Rainey saw the giant's glance sweep over her, full of admiration. 

"As you wish, Miss Peggy, " he said. "Hansen, 'bout ship. Hold on aminnit. How about you, Miss Peggy? If you want to go home, we can findways at Unalaska. I play fair. I'll bring back yore share--in full. "

"I am not thinking about the gold, " the girl said scornfully. "But Iwant to carry out my father's last wishes, if you will permit me. Ishall stay with the ship. Now I am going back to him. You--you"--shequelled the tremble of her mouth, and her chin showed firm anddetermined--"you can arrange for the funeral to-morrow at dawn, if youwill. I want him to-night. "

Her face quivered piteously, but she conquered even that and walked tothe companionway. 

"Game, by God, game as they make 'em!" said Lund. 

CHAPTER XII

DEMING BREAKS AN ARM

Rainey, dozing in his bunk, going over the sudden happenings of the day, had placed Carlsen's automatic under his pillow after loading it. Hefound that it lacked four shells of full capacity, the two that Lund hadfired at his bottle target, the one fired by Carlsen at Rainey, and thelast ineffective shot at Lund, a shot that went astray, Rainey decided, largely through Lund's _coup-de-theatre_ of tearing off his glasses andflinging them at the doctor. 

The dynamo that he had idly fancied he could hear purring away inside ofLund was apparent with vengeance now, driving with full force. That waswhat Lund would be from now on, a driver, imperative, relentless, overcoming all obstacles; as he had himself said, selfish at heart, keenfor his own ends. 

Rainey was neither a weakling nor a coward, but he shrank from openencounter with Lund, and knew himself, without fear, the weaker man. Thechallenge of Lund, splendidly daring any one of them to come out againsthim alone, and challenging them _en masse_, had found in Rainey anacknowledgment of inferiority that was not merely physical. 

Lund knew far more than he did about the class of men that made up theinhabitants of the _Karluk_. Rainey had once fondly hugged the delusionthat he knew something of the nature of those who "went down to the seain ships. "

Now he knew that his ignorance was colossal. Such men were not complex, they moved by instinct rather than reason, they were not guided byconscience, the values of right and wrong were not intuitive with them, muscle rather than mind ruled their universe. 

Yet Rainey could not solve them, and Lund knew them as one may know afavorite book. 

Lund had brains, cunning, brute force that commanded a respect not allbred of being weaker. In a way he was magnificent. And Rainey vaguelyheralded trouble when Captain Simms was at last given to the deep. Hefelt certain that the hunters under Deming were hatching something but, in the main, his mental prophecy of trouble coming was connected withthe girl. 

Lund had shown no disrespect to her, rather the opposite. But the girlshowed hatred of Lund and, in minor measure, of Rainey. Some of thiswould die out, naturally. Rainey intended to attempt an adjustment inhis own behalf. But he held the feeling that Lund would not toleratethis hatred against him on the part of the girl. Such scorn would arousesomething in the giant's nature, something that would either strikeunder the lash, or laugh at it. 

Dimly, Rainey saw these things as the giant gropings of sex, not as hehad known it, surrounded by conventionalities, by courtesies oftwentieth-century veneering, but a law, primitive, irresistible, sweeping away barriers and opposition, a thing bigger even than the lustof gold; the lure of woman for man, and man for woman. 

Both Lund and the girl, he felt, would have this thing in greatermeasure than he would. He shared his life with too many things, withbooks, with amusements, with the social ping-pong of the level in whichhe ordinarily moved. 

There had been once a girl, perhaps there still was a girl, whom Raineyhad known on a visit to the camp-palace of a lumber king, high in theSierras, a girl who rode and hunted and lived out-of-doors, and yetdanced gloriously, sang, sewed and was both feminine and masculine, amaddening latter-day Diana, who had swept Rainey off his feet for thetime. 

But he had known that he was not up to her standards, that he was but apaper-worm, aside from his lack of means. That latter detail would, heknew, have bothered him far more than her. But she announced openly thatshe would only mate with a man who had lived. He rather fancied that ithad been a challenge--one he had not taken up. The matrix of his ownlife just then was too snug a bed. Well, he was living now, he toldhimself. 

On the border of dreams he was brought back by a strange noise on deck, a rush of feet, many voices, and topping them all, the bellow of Lund, roaring, not for help, but in challenge. 

Rainey, half asleep, jumped from his bunk and rushed out of the room. Hehad no doubt as to what had happened; the hunters had attacked Lund!And, unused to the possession of firearms, still drowsy, he forgot theautomatic, intent upon rallying to the cry of the giant. As he made forthe companionway, the girl came out of her father's room. 

"What is it?" she cried. 

"Lund--hunters!" Rainey called back as he sped up the stairs. He thoughthe heard a "wait" from her, but the stamping and yelling were loud inhis ears, and he plunged out on deck. As he emerged he saw the stolidface of Hansen at the wheel, his pale blue eyes glancing at the set ofhis canvas and then taking on a glint as they turned amidships. 

Lund looked like a bear surrounded by the dog-pack. He stood uprightwhile the six hunters tore and smashed at him. Two had caught him by themiddle, one from the front and one from the rear, and, as the fightraged back and forth, they were swung off their feet, bludgeoned andkicked by Lund to stop them getting at the gun in its holster slungunder his coat close to his armpit. 

Lund's arms swung like clubs, his great hands plucked at their holds, while he roared volleys of deep-sea, defiant oaths, shaking or strikingoff a man now and then, who charged back snarlingly to the attack. 

Brief though the fight had been when Rainey arrived, there was ampleevidence of it. Clothes were torn and faces bloody, and already the menwere panting as Lund dragged them here and there, flailing, striking, half-smothered, but always coming up from under, like a rock thatemerges from the bursting of a heavy wave. 

And the voice of the combat, grunts and snarls, gasping shouts andbroken curses, was the sound of ravening beasts. So far as Rainey couldvision in one swift moment before he ran forward, no knives were beingused. 

A hunter lunged out heavily and confidently to meet him as the othersgot Lund to his knees for a fateful moment, piling on top of him, bludgeoning blows with guttural cries of fancied victory. 

Rainey's man struck, and the strength of his arm, backed by his hurlingweight, broke down Rainey's guard and left the arm numb. The nextinstant they were at close quarters, swinging madly, rife with the onedesire to down the other, to maim, to kill. A blow crashed home onRainey's cheek, sending him back dazed, striking madly, clinching tostop the piston-like smashes of the hunter clutching him, trying totrip him, hammering at the fierce face above him as they both went downand rolled into the scuppers, tearing at each other. 

He felt the man's hands at his throat, gradually squeezing out sense andbreath and strength, and threw up his knee with all his force. It struckthe hunter fairly in the groin, and he heard the man groan with thesudden agony. But he himself was nearly out. The man seemed to fade awayfor the second, the choking fingers relaxed, and Rainey gulped for air. His eyes seemed strained from bulging from their sockets in that fiercegrip, and there was a fog before them through which he could hear theroar of Lund, sounding like a siren blast that told he was stillfighting, still confident. 

Then he saw the hunter's face close to his again, felt the whole weightof the man crushing him, felt the bite of teeth through cloth and flesh, nipping down on his shoulder as the man lay on him, striving to hold himdown until he regained the strength that the blow in the groin hadtemporarily broken down. 

For just a moment Rainey's spirit sagged, his own strength was spent, his will sapped, his lungs flattened. For a moment he wanted to liethere--to quit. 

Then the hunter's body tautened for action, and, at the feel, Rainey'sebbing pride came surging back, and he heaved and twisted, clubbing theother over his kidneys until the roll of the schooner sent themtwisting, tumbling over to the lee once more. 

He felt as if he had been fighting for an hour, yet it had all takenplace during the leap of the _Karluk_ between two long swells that shehad negotiated with a sidelong lurch to the cross seas and wind. 

Rainey came up uppermost. The hunter's head struck the rail heavily. Hisshoulder was free, but he could see ravelings of his coat in the other'steeth. The pain in his shoulder was evident enough, and the sight of thewoolly fragments maddened him. The tactics of boyish fights came backto him, and he broke loose from the arms that hugged him, hitchedforward until he sat on the hunter's chest, set a knee on either bicepand battered at the other's face as it twisted from side to sidehelplessly, making a pulp of it, keen to efface all semblance ofhumanity, a brute like the rest of them, intent upon bruising, onblood-letting, on beating all resistance down to a quivering, spirit-broken mass. 

The hunter lay still beneath him at last, his nerve centers shattered bysome blow that had short-circuited them, and Rainey got wearily to hisfeet. The hunter's thumbs had pressed deep on each side of his neck, andhis head felt like wood for heaviness, but shot with pain. The vigor wasout of him. He knew he could not endure another hand-to-hand battle withone of the crowd still raging about Lund, who was on his feet again. 

Rainey saw his face, one red mask of blood and hair, with his agate eyesflaring up with the glory of the fight. He roared no longer, saving hisbreath. Hands clutched for him and fists fell, a man was tugging at eachknee of his legs, set far apart, sturdy as the masts themselves. 

Lund's arm came up, lifting a hunter clean from the deck, shook him offsomehow, and crashed down. One of the men tackling his legs droppedsenseless from the buffet he got on the side of his skull, and Lund'skick sent him scudding across the deck, limp, out of the fight thatcould not last much longer. 

All this came as Rainey, still dazed, helped himself by the skylighttoward the companion, going as fast as he could to get his gun. If hedid not hurry he was certain they would kill Lund. No man couldwithstand those odds much longer. 

And, Lund killed, hell would break loose. It would be his turn next, andthe girl would be left at their mercy. The thought spurred him, clearedhis throbbing head, jarred by the smashes of his still senselessopponent who would be coming to before long. 

Then he saw the girl, standing by the rail, not crouching, as he hadsomehow expected her to be, shutting out the sight of the fight withtrembling hands, but with her face aglow, her eyes shining, watching, asa Roman maid might have watched a gladiatorial combat; thrilled with thespectacle, hands gripping the rail, leaning a little forward. 

She did not notice Rainey as he crept by Hansen, still guiding theschooner, holding her to her course, imperturbable, apparently carelessof the issue. As he staggered down the stairs the line of thought he hadpursued in his bunk, broken by the noise of the fight and hisparticipation, flashed up in his brain. 

This was sex, primitive, predominant! The girl must sense what mighthappen to her if Lund went down. She had no eyes for Rainey, her soulwas up in arms, backing Lund. The shine in her eyes was for the strengthof his prime manhood, matched against the rest, not as a person, anindividual, but as an embodiment of the conquering male. 

He got the gun, and he snatched a drink of brandy that ran through hisveins like quick fire, revivifying him so that he ran up the ladder andcame on deck ready to take a decisive hand. 

But he found it no easy matter to risk a shot in that swirling mass. They all seemed to be arm weary. Blows no longer rose and fell. Lund wasslowly dragging the dead weight of them all toward the mast. The two menon the deck still lay there. Rainey's opponent was trying to get up, wiping clumsily at the blood on his face, blinded. 

The girl still stood by the rail. Back of the wrestling mass stood theseamen, offering to take no part, their arms aswing like apes, theirdull faces working. Tamada stood by the forward companion, his armsfolded, indifferent, neutral. 

[Illustration: Then he saw the girl standing by the rail]

All this Rainey saw as he circled, while the mass whirled like ateetotum. The action raced like an overtimed kinetoscopic film. A manbroke loose from the scrimmage, on the opposite side from Rainey, whobarely recognized the disheveled figure with the bloody, battered faceas Deming. The hunter had managed to get hold of Lund's gun. Rainey'saim was screened by a sudden lunge of the huddle of men. He saw Lundheave, saw his red face bob up, mouth open, roaring once more, saw hisleg come up in a tremendous kick that caught Deming's outleveling armclose to the elbow, saw the gleam of the gun as it streaked up andoverboard, and Deming staggering back, clutching at his broken limb, cursing with the pain, to bring up against the rail and shout to theseamen:

"Get into it, you damned cowards! Get into it, and settle him!"

Even in that instant the sarcasm of the cry of "cowards" struck home toRainey. The next second the girl had jumped by him, a glint of metal inher hand as she brought it out of her blouse. This time she saw him. "Come on!" she cried. And darted between the fighters and the stormingfigure of Deming, who tried to grasp her with his one good arm, butfailed. 

Rainey sped after her just as Lund reached the mast. The girl had anickeled pistol in her hand and was threatening the sullen line ofirresolute seamen. Rainey with his gun was not needed. He heard Lundshout out in a triumphant cry and saw him battering at the heads ofthree who still clung to him. 

All through the fight Lund had kept his head, struggling to the purposehe had finally achieved, to reach the mast-rack of belaying pins, seizeone of the hardwood clubs and, with this weapon, beat his assailants tothe deck. 

He stood against the mast, his clothes almost stripped from him, thewhite of his flesh gleaming through the tatters, streaked with blood. Save for his eyes, his face was no longer human, only a mass of flayedflesh and clotted beard. But his eyes were alight with battle and then, as Rainey gazed, they changed. Something of surprise, then of delight, leaped into them, followed by a burning flare that was matched in thoseof the girl who, with Rainey herding back the seamen, had turned atLund's yell of victory. 

Lund took a lurching step forward over the prone bodies of the men onthe deck, that was splotched with blood. 

"By God!" he said slowly, his arms opening, his great fingers outspread, his gaze on the girl, "by God!"

The girl's face altered. Her eyes grew frightened, cold. The retreatingblood left her cheeks pale, and she wheeled and fled, dodging behindTamada, who gave way to let her pass, his ivory features showing noemotion, closing up the fore companionway as Peggy Simms dived below. 

Lund did not follow her. Instead, he laughed shortly and appeared to seeRainey for the first time. 

"Jumped me, the bunch of 'em!" he said, his chest heaving, his breathcoming in spurts from his laboring lungs. "Couldn't use my gun. But Ilicked 'em. Damn 'em! _Equals?_ Hell!"

He seemed to have a clear recollection of the fight. He smiled grimly atDeming, who glared at him, nursing his broken arm, then glanced at theman that Rainey had mastered. 

"Did him up, eh? Good for you, matey! You didn't have to use your gun. Jest as well, you might have plugged me. An' the gal had one, afterall. "

He seemed to ruminate on this thought as if it gave him special causefor reflection. 

"Game!" he said. "Game as they make 'em!"

He surveyed the rueful, groaning combatants with the smile of aconqueror, then turned to the seamen. 

"Here, you!" he roared, and they jumped as if galvanized into life bythe shout. "Chuck a bucket of water over 'em! Chuck water till they gitbelow. Then clean the decks. Off-watch, you're out of this. Below withyou, where you belong. Jump!

"They all fought fair, " he went on. "Not a knife out. Only Deming there, when he knew he was licked, tried to git my gun. Yo're yeller, Deming, "he said, with contempt that was as if he had spat in the hunter's face. "I thought you were a better man than the rest. But you've got yores. Git down below an' we'll fix you up. "

He strode over to Hansen, stolid at the wheel. 

"Wal, you wooden-faced squarehead, " he said, "which way did you think itwas coming out? Damn me if you didn't play square, though! You kept herup. If you'd liked you could have chucked us all asprawl, an' that wouldhave bin the end of it, with me down. You git a bottle of booze forthat, Hansen, all for yore own Scandinavian belly. Come on, Rainey. Tamada, I want you. "

While Tamada got splints and did what he could for the badly shatteredarm, Lund taunted Deming until the hunter's face was seamed with uselessferocity, like a weasel's in a trap. 

"I wonder you fix him at all, Tamada, " he said. "He wanted to cut youout of yore share. Called you a yellow-skinned heathen, Tamada. Whatmakes you gentle him that way? You've got him where you want him. "

Tamada, binding up the splints professionally, looked at Deming withjetty eyes that revealed no emotion. 

Lund passed his hand over his face. 

"I'm some mess myself, " he said, stretching his great arms. "Give me afive-finger drink, Rainey, afore I clean up. Some scrap. Hell popping ondeck, and a dead man in the cabin! And the gal! Did you see the gal, Rainey?"

Out of the bloody mask of his face his agate eyes twinkled at Raineywith a sort of good-natured malice. Rainey did not answer as he pouredthe liquor. 

"Make it four finger, " exclaimed Lund. "Deming's goin' to faint. One forDoc Tamada. "

The Japanese excused himself, helping Deming, worn out with pain andconsumed by baffled hate, forward through the galley corridor. Then hecame back with warm water in a basin--and towels. 

"After this cheery little fracas, " said Lund, mopping at his face, "we'll mebbe have a nice, quiet, genteel sort of ship. My gun wentoverboard, didn't it? Better let me have that one you've got, Rainey. "

He stretched out his hand for it. Rainey delivered it, reluctantly. There was nothing else to do, but he felt more than ever that the_Karluk_ was henceforth to be a one-man ship, run at the will of Lund. 

But the girl, too, had a weapon. He hugged that thought. She carried itfor her own protection, and she would not hesitate to use it. What agirl she was! What a woman rather! A woman who would _mate_--not marryfor the quiet safety of a home. Rainey thought of her as one does of apool that one plumbs with a stone, thinking to find it fairly shallow, only to discover it a gulf with unknown depth and currents, capable ofsmiling placidness or sudden storm. 

CHAPTER XIII

THE RIFLE CARTRIDGES

The girl did not appear for the evening meal. She had refused Tamada'ssuggestions through the door. Lund drank heavily, but without anyeffect, save to sink him in comparative silence, as he and Rainey sattogether, after the Japanese had cleared the table. In contrast to theexcitement of the fight, their moods had changed, sobered by the thoughtof the girl sitting up with her dead in the captain's room. 

Rainey was bruised and stiffened, and Lund moved with less of his usualease. The flesh of his face had been so pounded that it was turning dullpurple in great patches, giving him a diabolical appearance against hisnaming beard. 

"We've got to git hold of those cartridges, " he said, after along-pause. "Carlsen had 'em planted somewhere, an' it's likely in hisroom. Best thing to do is to chuck 'em overboard. Cheaper to dump thecartridges an' shells than the rifles an' shotguns. 

"You see, " he went on, "Deming ain't quit. That's one thing with a manwho's streaked with yeller, when he gits licked in the open an' knowshe's licked proper, he tries to git even underhanded. He knows jest aswell as I do that Carlsen was lyin' that time about there bein' no moreshells. O' course the skipper may have stowed 'em away, but I doubt it. An' jest so long as he thinks there's a chance of gittin' at 'em, he'llfigger on turning' the tables some day. An' he'll be workin' the rest of'em up to the job. "

"They can't do much without a navigator, " suggested Rainey. 

"Mebbe they figger a man'll do a lot o' things he don't want to with arifle barrel stuck in his neck or the small of his back, " said Lundgrimly. "It's a good persuader. Might even have some influence on me. Then ag'in it might not. "

"Where is the magazine?" asked Rainey. 

"In the little room aft o' the galley. We'll look there first. Come on. "

"How about keys? Carlsen's must have been in his pockets. I didn't seethem when I was hunting the morphine. We can't go in there. " Rainey madea motion toward the skipper's room. Lund chuckled. 

"I had my keys to the safe an' the magazine when I was aboard lasttrip, " he said. "They was with me when we went on the ice. An' I hung onto 'em. Allus thought I might have a chance to use 'em ag'in. "

The strong room of the _Karluk_ was a narrow compartment, heavilypartitioned off from the galley and the corridor. There was a lampthere, and Rainey lit it while Lund closed the door behind them. Themagazine was an iron chest fastened to the floor and the side of thevessel with two padlocks, opened by different keys. It was quite empty. 

"Thorough man, Carlsen, " said Lund. "Prepared for a show-down, ifnecessary. Might have put 'em in the safe. Wonder if he changed thecombination? I bet Simms didn't, year in an' out. "

He worked at the disk and grunted as the tumblers clicked home. 

"It ain't changed, " he said. "No use lookin' here. " But he swung backthe door and rummaged through books and papers, disturbing a chronometerand a small cash-box that held the schooner's limited amount of readycash. There was no sign of any cartridges. 

"We'll tackle Carlsen's room next, " he announced. "I don't suppose youlooked between the bunk mattresses, did you?"

"I never thought of it, " said Rainey. "I didn't imagine there would bemore than one. "

"I've got a hunch you'll find two on Carlsen's bunk. An' the shellsbetween 'em. He kep' his door locked when he was out of the main cabinan' slep' on 'em nights. That's what I'd be apt to do. "

As they came into the main cabin Rainey caught Lund by the arm. 

"I'm almost sure I saw Carlsen's door closing, " he whispered. "It mighthave been the shadow. "

"But it might not. Shouldn't wonder. One of 'em's sneaked in. Saw thecabin empty, an' figgered we'd turned in. While we was in thestrong-room. "

He took the automatic from his pocket and went straight to the door ofCarlsen's room. It was locked or bolted from within. 

"The fool!" said Lund. "I've got a good mind to let him stay there tillhe swallers some o' the drugs to fill his belly. " He rapped on the panelwith the butt of the gun. 

"Come on out before I start trouble. "

There was no answer. Lund looked uncertainly at Rainey. 

"I hate to start a rumpus ag'in, " he said, jerking his head toward theskipper's room. "'Count of her. Reckon he can stay there till afterwe've buried Simms. He's safe enough. "

Rainey was a little surprised at this show of thoughtfulness, but he didnot remark on it. He was beginning to think pretty constantly of latethat he had underestimated Lund. 

The giant's hand dropped automatically to the handle as if to assurehimself of the door being fast. Suddenly it opened wide, a black gap, with only the gray eye of the porthole facing them. Lund had brought upthe muzzle of his pistol to the height of a man's chest, but there wasnothing to oppose it. 

"Hidin', the damn fool! What kind of a game is this? Come out o' there. "

Something scuttled on the floor of the room--then darted swiftly outbetween the legs of Lund and Rainey, on all fours, like a great dog. Curlike, it sprawled on the floor with a white face and pop-eyes, withhands outstretched in pleading, knees drawn up in some ludicrous attemptat protection, calling shrilly, in the voice of Sandy:

"Don't shoot, sir! Please don't shoot!"

Lund reached down and jerked the roustabout to his feet, halfstrangling him with his grip on the collar of the lad's shirt, and flunghim into a chair. 

"What were you doin' in there?"

Sandy gulped convulsively, feeling at his scraggy throat, where anAdam's apple was working up and down. Speech was scared out of him, andhe could only roll his eyes at them. 

"You damned young traitor!" said Lund. "I'll have you keelhauled forthis! Out with it, now. Who sent ye? Deming?"

"You've got him frightened half to death, " intervened Rainey. "Theyprobably scared him into doing this. Didn't they, Sandy?"

The lad blinked, and tears of self-pity rolled down his grimy cheeks. The relief of them seemed to unstopper his voice. That, and the kinderquality of Rainey's questioning. 

"Deming! He said he'd cut my bloody heart out if I didn't do it. Him an'Beale. Lookit. "

He plucked aside the front of his almost buttonless shirt and wornundervest and showed them on his left breast the scoring where a sharpblade had marked an irregular circle on his skin. 

"Beale did that, " he whined. "Deming said they'd finish the job if Icome back without 'em. "

"Without the shells?"

"Yes, sir. Yes, Mr. Rainey. Oh, Gord, they'll kill me sure! Oh, myGord!" His staring eyes and loose mouth, working in fear, made him looklike a fresh-landed cod. 

"You ain't much use alive, " said Lund. 

"Mebbe I ain't, " returned the lad, with the desperation of a corneredrat. "But I got a right to live. And I've lived worse'n a dorg on thisbloody schooner. I'm fair striped an' bruised wi' boots an' knuckles an'ends o' rope. I'd 'ave chucked myself over long ago if--"

"If what?"

The lad turned sullen. 

"Never mind, " he said, and glared almost defiantly at Lund. 

"Is that door shut?" the giant asked Rainey. "Some of 'em might behangin' 'round. " Rainey went to the corridor and closed and locked theentrance. 

"Now then, you young devil, " said Lund. "What they did to you for'ardain't a marker on what I'll do to you if you don't speak up an' answerwhen I talk. _If what?_"

Sandy turned to Rainey. 

"They said they was goin' to give me some of the gold, " he said. "Theysaid all along I was to have the hat go 'round for me. I told you I wasdragged up, but there's--there's an old woman who was good to me. She'sup ag'in' it for fair. I told her I'd bring her back some dough an' if Ican hang on an' git it, I'll hang on. But they'll do me up, now, forkeeps. "

Rainey heard Lund's chuckle ripen to a quiet laugh. 

"I'm damned if they ain't some guts to the herrin' after all, " he said. "Hangin' on to take some dough back to an old woman who ain't even hismother. Who'd have thought it? Look here, my lad. I was dragged up thesame way, I was. An' I hung on. But you'll never git a cent out of thatbunch. I don't know as they'll have enny to give you. "

His face hardened. "But you come through, an' I'll see you git somethin'for the old woman. An' yoreself, too. What's more, you can stay aft an'wait on cabin. If they lay a finger on you, I'll lay a fist on them, an'worse. "

"You ain't kiddin' me?"

"I don't kid, my lad. I don't waste time that way. "

Sandy stood up, his face lighting. He began to empty his pockets, layingshells and shotgun cartridges upon the table. 

"I couldn't begin to git harf of 'em, " he said. "The rest's under themattresses. They said they on'y needed a few. I thought you was bothturned in. When you come out of the corridor I was scared nutty. "

Between the mattresses, as Lund had guessed, they found the rest of theshells, laid out in orderly rows save where the lad's scramblingfingers had disturbed them. Lund stripped off a pillow-case and dumpedthem in, together with those on the table. 

"You can bunk here, " he told the grateful Sandy. "Now I'll have a fewwords with Deming, Beale and Company. Want to come along, Rainey?"

Lund strode down the corridor, bag in one hand, his gun in the other. Rainey threw open the door of the hunters' quarters and discovered themlike a lot of conspirators. Deming was in his bunk; also another man, whose ribs Lund had cracked when he had kicked him along the deck out ofhis way. The bruised faces of the rest showed their effects from thefight. As Lund entered, covering them with the gun, while he swung downthe heavy slip on the table with a clatter, their looks changed fromeager expectation to consternation. 

CHAPTER XIV

PEGGY SIMMS

"Caught with the goods!" said Lund. "Two tries at mutiny in one day, mylads. You want to git it into your boneheads that I'm runnin' this shipfrom now on. I can sail it without ye and, by God, I'll set the bunch ofye ashore same's you figgered on doin' with me if you don't sit up an'take notice! The rifles an' guns"--he glanced at the orderly display ofweapons in racks on the wall--"are too vallyble to chuck over, but herego the shells, ev'ry last one of them. So that nips _that_ little plan, Deming. "

He turned back the slip to display the contents. 

"Open a port, Rainey, an' heave the lot out. "

Rainey did so while the hunters gazed on in silent chagrin. 

"There's one thing more, " said Lund, grinning at them. "If enny of yousaw a man hurtin' a dog, you'd probably fetch him a wallop. But youdon't think ennything of scarin' the life out of a half-baked kid an'markin' up his hide like a patchwork quilt. Thet kid's stayin' aft afterthis. One of you monkey with him, an' you'll do jest what he's bindoin', wish you was dead an' overboard. "

He turned on his heel and walked to the door, Rainey following. 

"Burial of the skipper at dawn, " said Lund. "All hands on deck, cleanan' neatly dressed to stand by. An' see yore behavior fits the occasion. Deming, you'll turn out, too. No malingerin'. "

It was plain that the news of the captain's death was known to them. They showed no surprise. Rainey was sure that Tamada had not mentionedit. It had leaked out through the grape-vine telegraphy of all ships. Doubtless, he thought, the after-cabin and its doings was always beingspied upon. 

"Will you take the service ter-morrer?" Lund asked Rainey when theywere back in the cabin. "Bein' as yo're an eddicated chap?"

"Why--I don't know it. Is there a prayer-book aboard? I thought theskipper always presided. "

"I'm only deputy-skipper w'en it comes down to that, " said Lund. "Itain't my ship. I'm jest runnin' it under contract with my late partner. The ship belongs to the gal. And yo're top officer now, in the regularrun. As to a prayer-book, there ain't sech an article aboard to myknowledge. But I'd like to have it go off shipshape. For Simms' sake aswell as the gal's. I reckon he used his best jedgment 'bout puttin' backafter me on the floe. I might have done the same thing myself. "

Rainey doubted that statement, and set it down to Lund's generosity. Many of his late words and actions had displayed a latent depth offeeling that he had never credited Lund with possessing. He could nothelp believing that, in some way, the girl had brought them to thesurface. 

"I thought I saw a Bible in the safe, " he said, "when we were lookingfor the shells. There may be a prayer-book. I suppose there have beenoccasions for it. The mate died at sea last trip. "

"There may be, " returned Lund. "That's where Simms 'ud keep it. Hewarn't what you'd call a religious man. We'll take a look afore we turnin. "

There were offices to be performed for the dead captain that the girl, with all her willingness, could not attempt. Lund did not mention them, and Rainey vacillated about disturbing her until he saw Tamada gothrough the cabin with folded canvas and a flag. The Japanese tapped onthe door, which was instantly opened to him. He had been expected. 

There was no doubt that Tamada, with his medical experience, was bestfitted for the task, but it seemed to Rainey also that the girl haddeliberately ignored their services and that, despite her involuntaryadmiration of Lund's fight against odds, or in revulsion of it, shereckoned them hostile to her sentiments. Lund roused him by talking ofthe burial-service for Simms. 

"You're a writer, " he said. "What's the good of knowin' how to handlewords if you can't fake up some sort of a service? One's as good asanother, long as it sounds like the real thing. 

"I reckon there's a God, " he went on. "Somethin' that started things, somethin' that keeps the stars from runnin' each other down, but, afterHe wound up the clock He made, I don't figger He bothers much about theworks. 

"Luck's the big thing that counts. We're all in on the deal. Some of usgit the deuces an' treys, an' some git the aces. If yo're born luckythings go soft for you. But, if it warn't for luck, for the chance an'the hope of it, things 'ud be upside down an' plain anarchy in a jiffy. If it warn't the pore devil's idea that his luck has got to change forthe better, mebbe ter-morrer, he'd start out an' cut his own throat, orsome one else's, if he had ginger enough. "

"It's hardly all luck, is it?" asked Rainey. "Look at you! You're biggerthan most men, stronger, better equipped to get what you want. "

"Hell!" laughed Lund. "I was lucky to be born that way. But you've gotto fudge up some sort of a service to suit the gal. You've got thatBible. It ought to be easy. Simms wouldn't give a whoop, enny more'n Iwould. When yo're dead yo're through, so far's enny one can prove it toyou. A dead body's a nuisance, an' the sooner it's got rid of thebetter. But if it's goin' to make the livin' feel enny better forspielin' off some fine words, why, hop to it an' make up yore speech. "

Peggy Simms saved Rainey by producing a prayer-book, bringing it toLund, her face pale but composed enough, and her shadowed eyes calm asshe gave it to him. 

"I reckon Rainey here 'ud read it better'n me, " he said. "He's ascholar. "

"If you will, " asked the girl. She seemed to have outworn her firstsorrow, to have obtained a grip of herself that, with the dignity of herbereavement, the very control of her undoubted grief, set up a barrierbetween her and Lund. Rainey was conscious of this fence behind whichthe girl had retreated. She was polite, but she did not ask this serviceas a favor, as a friendly act. Refusal, even, would not have visiblyaffected her, he fancied. There was an invisible armor about her thatmight be added to at any moment by a shield of silent scorn. Somehow, ifsex had, for a swift moment, brought her and Lund into any contact, thatsame sex, showing another aspect, set them far apart. 

Lund showed that he felt it, running his splay fingers through his beardin evident embarrassment, while Rainey took the book silently, lookingthrough the pages for the ritual of "Burial at Sea. "

Arrangements had been made on deck long before dawn. A section of therail had been removed and a grating arranged that could be tipped atthe right moment for the consignment of the captain's body to the deep. 

The sea was running in long heaves, and the sun rose in a clear sky. Theocean was free from ice, though the wind was cold. Here and there aberg, far off, caught the sparkle of the sun and, to the north, parallelto their course, the peaks of the Aleutian Isles, broken buttresses ofan ancient seabridge, showed sharply against the horizon. 

At four bells in the morning watch all hands had assembled, save forTamada and Hansen, who appeared bearing the canvas-enveloped, flag-draped body of Simms, his sea-shroud weighted by heavy pieces ofiron. Peggy Simms followed them, and, as the crew, with shuffling feetand throats that were repeatedly cleared, gathered in a semicircle, shearranged the folds of the Stars and Stripes that Hansen attached to alight line by one corner. 

Whatever Lund affected, the solemnity of the occasion held the men. Theyuncovered and stood with bowed heads that hid the bruised faces of thehunters. Lund's own damaged features were lowered as Rainey commenced toread. Only Deming's face, gray from the effort of coming on deck and thepain in his arm, held the semblance of a sneer that was largely bravado. A hunter had his arm tucked in that of his comrade with the broken ribs. A seaman was told off to the wheel and the schooner was held to the windwith all sheets close inboard, rising and falling on an almost levelkeel. 

"_And the body shall be cast into the sea. _"

At the words Lund and Hansen tilted the grating. There was a slightpause as if the body were reluctant to start on its last journey, andthen it slid from the platform and plunged into the sea, disappearinginstantly under the urge of the weights, with a hissing aeration of thewater. The flag, held inboard by the line, fluttered a moment andsubsided over the grating. The girl turned toward them, her head up. 

"Thank you, " she said, and went below. 

"That's over, " said Lund, letting out whatever emotions he might haverepressed in a long breath. "Now, then, trim ship! Watch-off, get below. We're goin' to drive her for all she's worth. "

He took the wheel himself as the men jumped to the sheets and soon Lundwas getting every foot of possible speed out of the schooner. He was asgood a sailor as Simms, inclined to take more chances, but capable ofhandling them. 

The girl kept below and seldom came out of her cabin, Tamada serving hermeals in there. Rainey could see Lund's resentment growing at thisattitude that seemed to him normal enough, though it might presentdifficulty later if persisted in. But the morning that they headed upthrough Sequam Pass between the spouting reefs of Sequam and AmliaIslands, she came on deck and went forward to the bows, taking in deepbreaths of the bracing air and gazing north to the free expanse ofBering Strait. Rainey left her alone, but Lund welcomed her as she cameback aft. 

"Glad to see you on deck again, Miss Peggy, " he said. "You need sun andair to git you in shape again. "

His glance held vivid admiration of her as he spoke, a glance that ranover her rounded figure with a frank approval that Rainey resented, butto which the girl paid no attention. She seemed to have made up her mindto a change of attitude. 

"How far have we yet to go?" she asked. 

"A'most a thousan' miles to the Strait proper, " said Lund. "TheNome-Unalaska steamer lane lies to the east. Runs close to thePribilofs, three hundred miles north, with Hall an' St. Matthew threehundred further. Then comes St. Lawrence Isle, plumb in the middle ofthe Strait, with Siberia an' Alaska closin' in. "

He was keen to hold her in conversation, and she willing to listen, assenting almost eagerly when he offered to point out their positionson the chart, spread on the cabin table. Lund talked well, for all hislimited and at times luridly inclined vocabulary, whenever he talked ofthe sea and of his own adventures, stating them without brag, butbringing up striking pictures of action, full of the color and savor oflife in the raw. From that time on Peggy Simms came to the table andtalked freely with Lund, more conservatively with Rainey. 

The newspaperman was no experienced analyst of woman nature, but he saw, or thought he saw, the girl watching Lund closely when he talked, studying him, sometimes with more than a hint of approbation, at otherswith a look that was puzzled, seeming to be working at a problem. Thegiant's liking for her, boyish at times, or swiftly changing to bolderappraisal, grew daily. 

The girl, Rainey decided, was humoring Lund, seeking to know how withher feminine methods she might control him, keep him within bounds. Hercoldness, it seemed, she had cast aside as an expedient that might provetoo provoking and worthless. 

And Rainey's valuation of her resources increased. She was handling herwoman's weapons admirably, yet when he sometimes, at night, under thecabin lamp, saw the smoldering light glowing in Lund's agate eyes, heknew that she was playing a dangerous game. 

"What d'ye figger on doin' with yore share, Rainey?" Lund asked him thenight that they passed Nome. It was stormy weather in the Strait, andthe _Karluk_ was snugged down under treble reefs, fighting her waynorth. Ice in the Narrows was scarce, though Lund predicted broken floesonce they got through. The cabin was cozy, with a stove going. PeggySimms was busied with some sewing, the canary and the plants gave theplace a domestic atmosphere, and Lund, smoking comfortably, waseminently at ease. 

"'Cordin' to the way the men figgered it out, " he went on, "though Ireckon they're under the mark more'n over it, you'll have fortythousan' dollars. That's quite a windfall, though nothin' to Miss Peggy, here, or me, for that matter. I s'pose you got it all spent already. "

"I don't know that I have, " said Rainey. "But I think, if all goes well, I'll get a place up in the Coast Range, in the redwoods looking over thesea, and write. Not newspaper stuff, but what I've always wanted to. Stories. Yarns of adventure!"

Peggy Simms looked up. 

"You've never done that?" she asked. 

"Not satisfactorily. I suppose that genius burns in a garret, but Idon't imagine myself a genius and I don't like garrets. I've an idea Ican write better when I don't have to stand the bread-and-butter strainof routine. "

"Goin' to write second-hand stuff?" asked Lund. "Why don't you _live_what you write? I don't see how yo're goin' to git under a man's skin bysquattin' in a bungalow with a Jap servant, a porcelain bathtub, an'breakfast in bed. Why don't you travel an' see stuff as it is? How inblazes are you goin' to write Adventure if you don't live it?

"Me, I'm goin' to git a schooner built accordin' to my own ideas. Have akicker engine in it, mebbe, an' go round the world. What's the use oflivin' on it an' not knowin' it by sight? Books and pictures are allright in their way, I reckon, but, while my riggin' holds up, I'm fortravel. Mebbe I'll take a group of islands down in the South Seas aftera bit an' make somethin' out of 'em. Not jest _copra_ an' pearl-shell, but cotton an' rubber. "

"A king and his kingdom, " suggested the girl. 

"Aye, an' mebbe a queen to go with it, " replied Lund, his eyes wide openin a look that made the girl flush and Rainey feel the hidden issue thathe felt was bound to come, rising to the surface. 

"That's a _man's_ life, " went on Lund. "Travel's all right, but a man'sgot to do somethin', buck somethin', start somethin'. An' a red-bloodedman wants the right kind of a woman to play mate. Polish off his roughedges, mebbe. I'd rather be a rough castin' that could stand filin' abit, than smooth an' plated. An', when I find the right woman, one of myown breed, I'm goin' to tie to her an' her to me. 

"I'm goin' to be rich. They've cleaned up the sands of Nome, but there'sothers'll be found yit between Cape Hope an' Cape Barry. Meantime, we'vegot a placer of our own. With plenty of gold they ain't much limit towhat a man can do. I've roughed it all my life, an' I'm not lookin' forease. It makes a man soft. But--"

He swept the figure of the girl in a pause that was eloquent of his lineof thought. She grew uneasy of it, but Lund maintained it until sheraised her eyes from her work and challenged his. Rainey saw her breastheave, saw her struggle to hold the gaze, turn red, then pale. Hethought her eyes showed fear, and then she stiffened. Almostunconsciously she raised her hand to where Rainey was sure she kept thelittle pistol, touched something as though to assure herself of itspresence, and went on sewing. Lund chuckled, but shifted his eyes toRainey. 

"Why don't you write up _this_ v'yage? When it's all over? There'sadventure for you, an' we ain't ha'f through with it. An' romance, too, mebbe. We ain't developed much of a love-story as yit, but you never cantell. "

He laughed, and Peggy Simms got up quietly, folded her sewing, and said"Good night" composedly before she went to her room. 

"How about it, Rainey?" quizzed Lund. "How about the love part of it?She's a beauty, an' she'll be an heiress. Ain't you got enny red bloodin yore veins? Don't you want her? You won't find many to hold a candleto her. Looks, built like a racin' yacht, smooth an' speedy. Smart, an'rich into the bargain. Why don't you make love to her?"

Rainey felt the burning blood mounting to his face and brain. 

"I am not in love with Miss Simms, " he said. "If I was I should not tryto make love to her under the circumstances. She's alone, and she'sfatherless. I do not care to discuss her. "

"She's a woman, " said Lund. "And yo're a damned prig! You'd like to bustme in the jaw, but you know I'm stronger. You've got some guts, Rainey, but yo're hidebound. You ain't got ha'f the git-up-an'-go to ye that shehas. She's a woman, I tell you, an' she's to be won. If you want her, why don't you stand up an' try to git her 'stead of sittin' around likea sick cat whenever I happen to admire her looks?

"I've seen you. I ain't blind enny longer, you know. She's a woman an'I'm a man. I thought you was one. But you ain't. Yore idea of makin'love is to send the gal a box of candy an' walk pussy-footed an' writepoems to her. You want to _write_ life an' I want to _live_ it. So doesa gal like that. She's more my breed than yores, if she has goteddication. An' she's flesh and blood. Same as I am. Yo're half sawdust. Yo're stuffed. "

He went on deck laughing, leaving Rainey raging but helpless. Lundappeared to think the situation obvious. Two men, and a woman who wasattractive in many ways. The _only_ woman while they were aboard theschooner, therefore the more to be desired, admired by men cut off fromthe rest of the world. 

He expected Rainey to be in love with her, to stand up and say so, toendeavor to win her. Lund sought the ardor of competition. He might belooking for the excuse to crush Rainey. 

But he had said she was of his breed, and that was a true saying. IfLund was a son of the sea, she was a daughter of a line of seamen. Lund, sooner or later, meant to take her, willing or unwilling. He had saidso, none too covertly, that very evening. And, if Rainey meant to standbetween her and Lund as a protector, Lund would accept him in thatcharacter only as the girl's lover and his rival. 

And Rainey did not know whether he was in love with her or not. He couldnot even be certain of the girl. There were times when Lund seemed tofascinate her. One thing he braced himself to do, to be ready to aid heragainst Lund if occasion came, and she needed protection. The luck, asLund phrased it, that had given brawn to the giant, had given Raineybrains. When the time came he would use them. 

After this the girl avoided Lund's company as much as possible byseeking Rainey's. They worked through the Strait and headed into theArctic Ocean. Ice was all about them, fields formed of vast blocks offrozen water divided by broad lanes through which the _Karluk_ slowlymade her way, a maze of ice, always threatening, calling for all ofLund's skill while he fumed at every barrier, every change of theweather that grew steadily colder. 

The sky was never entirely unveiled by mist, and at night, as theysailed down a frozen fiord with lookouts doubled, the grinding smashingnoises of the ice seemed the warning voice of the North, as they sailedon into the wilderness. 

The hunters kept below. Lund bossed the ship. Deming, it seemed, managedto hold his cards and deal them despite his mending arm in splints. Andhe was steadily winning. The girl talked with Rainey of her own lifeashore and at sea on earlier trips with her father, of his own desire towrite, of his ambitions, until there was little he had not told her, even to the girl who was the daughter of the Lumber King. 

And the spell of her nearness, her youth, her beauty, naturally heldhim. When he was on deck duty she remained in her room. When Lundrelieved him, the day's work giving Lund, Hansen, and Rainey each tworegular watches of four hours, though Lund put in most of the night asthe ice grew more difficult to navigate, Rainey occasionally saw thegiant's eyes sizing him up with a sardonic twinkle. 

For the time being, the safety of the _Karluk_ and the successfulcarrying out of the purpose of the trip took all of Lund's attention andenergy. Twice he had been thwarted by the weather from gleaning hisgolden harvest, and it began to look as if the third attempt might be nomore fortunate. 

"The _Karluk's_ stout, " he said once, "but she ain't built for theArctic. If we git nipped badly she'll go like an eggshell. "

"And then what?" Rainey asked. 

"Git the gold! That's what we come for. If we have to make sleds an' usethe hunters for a dorg-team. " He laughed indomitably. "We'll make a manof you yit, Rainey, afore we git back. "

Lund was snatching sleep in scraps, seeking always to feel a way towardthe position of the island through the ice that continually baffledprogress. Several times they risked the schooner in a narrow lane whena lull of the often uncertain wind would have seen them ground betweenthe edges of the floe. Twice Lund ordered out the boats to save them. Once all hands fended desperately with spars to keep her clear, and onlythe schooner's overhung stern saved her rudder from the savagelyclashing masses that closed behind them. 

But he showed few signs of strain. Once in a while he would sit withclosed eyes or pass his hands across his brows as if they pained him. But he never complained, and the ice, taking on the dull hues of sea andsky, gave off no glare that should affect the sight. Against allopposition Lund forced his way until, just after sunset one night, asthe dusk swept down, he gave a shout and pointed to a fitful flare overthe port bow. Rainey thought it the aurora, but Lund laughed at him. 

"It's the crater atop the island, " he said. "Nothin' dangerous. Reg'larlighthouse. Now, boys, " he went on, his deep voice ringing withexhilaration, "there's gold in sight! Whistle for a change of weather, every mother's son of you!"

The deck was soon crowded. On the previous trip the schooner hadapproached the island from a different angle, but the men were swift toacknowledge the glow of the volcano as the expected landfall. Lundremained on deck, and it was late before any of the crew turned in. Rainey, during his watch, saw the mountain fire-pulse, glowing andwinking like the eye of a Cyclops, its gleam reflected in the eyes ofthe watchers who were about to invade the island and rob it of itsgolden sands. 

The change of weather came about three in the morning, though not asLund had hoped. A sudden wind materialized from the north, stiffeningthe canvas with its ice-laden breath, glazing the schooner wherevermoisture dripped, bringing up an angry scud of clouds that fought withthe moon. The sea appeared to have thickened. The _Karluk_ wentsluggishly, as if she was sailing in a sea of treacle. 

"Half slush already, " said Lund. "We're in for a real cold snap. There'll be pancake ice all around us afore dawn. That is sure a hardbeach to fetch. But it's too early for winter closing. After this nipwe'll have a warm spell. An' we got to git the stuff aboard an' startkitin' south afore the big freeze-up catches us. "

CHAPTER XV

SMOKE

When Rainey came on deck the next morning he found the schooner floatingin a small lagoon that made the center of a floe. The water in it wasslush, half solid. Main and fore were close furled, the headsails also, and the _Karluk_ was nosing against the far end of the rapidlydiminishing basin. The wind was still lively. 

All about were other floes, but they were widely separated, and betweenthem crisp waves of indigo were curling snappily. 

The island stood up sharp and jagged, much larger than Rainey hadanticipated. It boasted two cones, from one of which smoke was lazilytrailing. Ice was piled in wild confusion about its shores, wrecked bythe gale that had blown hard from four till eight, and was nowsubsiding with the swift change common to the Arctic. 

A deep hum of bursting surf undertoned all other noises and, prisoned asshe was, the schooner and her floe were sweeping slowly toward the landin the grip of a current rather than before the gusty wind. 

Lund had fendered the schooner's bows effectively before he went belowwith old sails that enveloped stem and swell, stuffed with ropes andbits of canvas. 

Within an hour the wind had ceased and the slush in the lagoon hadpancaked into flakes of forming ice that bid fair to become solid withina short time, for the day was bitterly cold and tremendously bright. Thesky rose from filmy silver-azure to richest sapphire, and the rollingwaters between the floes were darkest purple-blue. As the whip of thewind ceased they settled to a vast swell on which the great clumps ofice rose and fell with dazzling reflections. 

Lund came up within the hour and stood blinking at the brilliance. 

"My eyes ain't as strong yit as they should be, " he said to Rainey. "Ishouldn't have slung them glasses so hasty at Carlsen, though theysp'iled his aim, at that. If this weather keeps up I'll have to makesnow-specs; there ain't another pair of smokes aboard. " He made a shadeof his curved hand as he gazed at the island. 

"Current's got us, " he said, "an' we'll fetch up mighty close to thebeach. It lies between those two ridges, close together, buttin' outfrom the volcano. Long Strait current splits on Wrangell Island, andwe're in the trend of the northern loop. That's why the sea don't freezeup more solid. It's freezin' fast enough round us, where there ain'tmotion. "

He seemed well satisfied with the prospect. "Had breakfast?" he askedRainey, and then: "All right. We'll git the men aft. "

He bellowed an order, and soon every one came trooping, to gather in twogroups either side of the cabin skylight. Their faces were eager withthe proximity of the gold, yet half sullen as they waited to hear whatLund had to say. Since the attempt against him Lund had said nothingabout their shares. They acknowledged him as master, but they stillrebelled in spirit. 

"There's the island, " said Lund. "We'll make it afore sundown. The beachis there, waitin' for us to dig it up. It'll be some job. I don't reckonit's frozen hard, on'y crusted. If it is we'll bust the crust withdynamite. But we got to hop to it. There'll be another cold spell afterthis one peters out an' the next is like to be permanent. I want thegold washed out afore then, an' us well down the Strait. It's up to youto hump yoreselves, an' I'll help the humpin'. 

"We'll cradle most of the stuff an', if they's time, we'll flume thesilt tailin's for the fine dust. Providin' we can git a fall of water. There'll be plenty for all hands to do. An' the shares go as firstfixed. I ain't expectin' you to do the diggin' an' not git a pinch ortwo of the dust. "

The men's faces lighted, and they shuffled about, looking at one anotherwith grins of relief. 

"No cheers?" asked Lund ironically. "Wall, I hardly expected enny. Hansen, you'll be one of the foremen, with pay accordin'. Deming. "

"I can't dig, " said the hunter truculently. "Neither can Beale, with hisribs. "

"You've got a sweet nerve, " said Lund. "I reckon you've won enough to besure of yore shares, if the boys pay up. Enough for you to do somediggin' in yore pockets for Beale. His ribs 'ud be whole if you hadn'tstarted the bolshevik stunt. But I'll find something for both of you todo. Don't let that worry you none. 

"We've got mercury aboard somewhere, " Lund continued, to Rainey, whenthe men had dispersed, far more cheerful than they had gathered. "We'lluse that for concentration in the film riffles. Hansen'll have rockersmade that'll catch the big stuff. If the worst comes to the worst, we'll load up the old hooker with the pay dirt an' wash it out on theway home. I'll strip that beach down to bedrock if I have to work thetoes an' fingers off 'em. "

By noon the schooner was glazed in as firmly as a toy model that ismounted in a glass sea. The wind blew itself entirely out, but thecurrent bore them steadily on to the clamorous shore, where the swellswere creating promontories, bays, cliffs and chasms in the piled-upconfusion of the floes pounding on the rocks, breaking up or slidingatop one another in noisy confusion. 

The marble-whiteness of the ice masses was set off by the blues and softviolets of their shadows, and by a pearly sheen wherever the planescaught the light at a proper slant for the play of prisms. Beautiful asit was, the sight was fearful to Rainey, in common with the crew. OnlyLund surveyed it nonchalantly. 

"It's bustin' up fast, " he said. "All we need is a little luck. If weain't got that there's no use of worryin'. We can't blast ourselves outo' this without riskin' the schooner. We ought to be thankful we frozein gentle. There ain't a plank started. The floe'll fend us off. Thereain't enny big chunks enny way near us aft. Luck--to make a decentlandin'--is all we need, an' it's my hunch it's comin' our way. "

His "hunch" was correct. Though they did not actually make the littlebay on which the treasure beach debouched, they fetched up near itagainst a broken hill of ice that had lodged on the sharp slopes of alittle promontory, making the connection without further damage than asplitting of the forward end of their encasing floe, with hardly a jarto the _Karluk_. 

Lund sent men ashore over the ice, climbing to the promontory crags withhawsers by which they tied up schooner, floe and all, to the land. Ifthe broken hill suffered further catastrophe, which did not seem likely, its fragments would fall upon the floe. In case of emergency Lundordered men told off day and night to stand by the hawsers, to castloose or cut, as the extremity needed. 

The main danger threatened from following floes piling up on theirs andramming over it to smash the schooner, but that was a risk that must bemet as it evolved, and there did not seem much prospect of thehappening. 

It was dark before they were snugged. The men volunteered, throughHansen, to commence digging that night by the light of big fires, socrazy were they at the nearness of the gold. But Lund forbade it. 

"You'll work reg'lar shifts when you git started, " he said. "An' youwon't start till ter-morrer. We've got to stand by the ship ter-nightuntil we find out by mornin' how snug we're goin' to be berthed. "

All night long they lay in a pandemonium of noise. After a while theywould become used to it as do the workers in a stampmill, but that nightit deafened them, kept them awake and alert, fearful, with thetremendous cannonading. The bite of the frost made the timbers of the_Karluk_ creak and its thrust continually worked among the strandedmasses with groaning thunders and shrill grindings, while the surf everboomed on the resonant sheets of ice. 

The place held a strange mystery. On top of the main cone the volcanicglow hung above the crater chimney, reflected waveringly on the rollingclouds of smoke that blotted out the stars. There were no tremors, norumblings from the hidden furnace, only the flare of its stoking. Thestars that were visible were intensely brilliant points, and, when themoon rose, it was accompanied by four mock moons bound in a halo thatwidely encircled the true orb. The moon-dogs shone intermittently withprismatic colors, like disks of mother-of-pearl, and the moon itself wasfour-rayed. 

Under moon and stars the coast snaked away to end in a deceptive glimmerthat persisted beyond the eye-range of definite dimensions. And, despiteall the sound, muffled and sharp, of splinterings and explosions, ofthe reverberation of the swell, outside all this clamor, silence seemedto gather and to wait. Silence and loneliness. It awed the crew, itinvested the spirits of Peggy Simms and Rainey, gazing at the mysticbeauty of the Arctic landscape. 

The walls of forced-up ice shifted about them and came clattering down, booming on their floe as if it had been a drum, and threatening to tiltit by sheer weight had they not been fairly grounded forward. Otherfloes came from seaward to batter at the cliffs, but the eddy that hadbrought them to their resting-place seemed to have been dissolved in themain current and, save for an occasional alarm, their stern was notseriously invaded. 

Only, as the night wore on, the floating masses became cemented to oneanother and the shore. The _Karluk_ was hard and fast within two hundredyards of her Tom Tiddler's ground, just over the promontory. If a thawcame, all should go well. If Lund had been deceived, and the truewinter was setting in early, the prospects were far from cheerful, though no one seemed to think of that possibility. 

Beneath the glamour of the magic night, the weird paraselene of themoon's phenomenon, the glow of the volcano, the noises, the menwhispered of one thing only--Gold!

Dawn came before they were aware of it, a sudden rush of light that dyedthe ice in every hue of red and orange, that tipped the frozen coastwith bursts of ruby flame that flared like beacons and gilded the crestsof the long swells, tinging all their world with a wild, unnaturalglory. 

Lund, striding the deck, his red beard iced with his breath, suddenlystopped and stared into the east. There, in the very eye of the dawn, was a trail of smoke, like a plume against the flaming, three-quarterscircle of the rising sun!

CHAPTER XVI

THE MIGHT OF NIPPON

Lund's face, on which the bruises were fast fading, changed purple-blackwith rage. He whirled upon Sandy, gaping near, and ordered him to fetchhis binoculars. Through them he stared long at the smoke. Then he turnedto the girl and Rainey. 

"Come down inter the cabin, " he said. "We'll need all our wits. "

"That's a gunboat patrol, " he said. "Japanese, for a million! None otherthis far west. An' it's damned funny it should come up right at thisminnit. We've made the trip on schedule time, an' here they show. Butwe'll let that slide. We've got to think fast. They'll board us. They'lloverhaul us lookin' for seal pelts. At least, I hope so. 

"We've got none. Our hunters an' our rifles an' shotguns'll prove ourclaim to be pelagic sealers. We got to trust they believe us. If therewas a hide aboard or a club, or a sign of a dead seal on the beachesthey'd nail us. They may, ennyway, jest on suspicion. 

"They run things out this way with a high hand. If they ever clap us inprison it'll be where we can't let a peep out of us. A lot they worryabout our consuls. They's too many good sealers dropped out of sight inone of their stinkin' jails to starve on millet an' dried, moldy fish. Iknow what I'm talkin' about. 

"It's lucky we didn't start mussin' up that beach. But they'll go overeverything. I know 'em. They claim to own the seas hereabouts, an'they're cockier than ever, since the war. Rainey you got to git busy onthe log. If yore father didn't keep it up, Miss Peggy, so much thebetter. If he has, you got to fake it someways, Rainey. 

"I'm Simms, get me, until we're clear of 'em. An' you, Rainey, are DocCarlsen. Nothin' must show in the log about enny deaths. "

"But why?" asked the girl. "Why do we have to masquerade? If we haven'ttouched the seals?"

Lund barked at her:

"I gave you credit for sharper wits, " he said. "We've got to haveeverything so reg'lar they can't find an excuse for haulin' us in an'settin' fire to the schooner. They'd do it in a jiffy. We got to show'em our clearance papers, an' we've got to tally up all down the line. Rainey ain't on the ship's books--Carlsen is. Lund ain't, but Simms is. I'm Simms. An' you"--he stopped to grin at her--"you're my daughter. I'll dissolve the relationship after a while, I'll promise you that. An'I'll drill the men. They know what's ahead of 'em if the Japs gitsuspicious. 

"That ain't the worst of it! _They may know what we're after. _ If theydo, we're goners. Ever occur to you, Rainey, that Tamada, who is a deepone, may have tipped off the whole thing to his consul while theschooner was at San Francisco? He was along the last trip. He'd know theapproximate position. Might have got the right figgers out o' the log, him havin' the run of the cabin. A cable would do the rest. He'd git hiswhack out of it, with the order of the Golden Chrysanthemum or somejig-arig to boot, an' git even with the way he feels to'ard our outfitfor'ard, that ain't bin none too sweet to him. "

The suggestion held a foundation of conviction for Rainey. He hadthought of the consul. He had always sensed depths in Tamada's reserve, he remembered bits of his talk, the "certain circumstances" that he hadmentioned. It looked plausible. Lund rose. 

"I'll fix Tamada, " he said. But the girl stopped him. 

"You don't _know_ that's true. Tamada has been wonderful--to me. What doyou intend to do with him?"

"I'll make up my mind between here and the galley, " said Lund grimly. "This is my third time of tackling this island, an' no Jap is goin' tostand between me an' the gold, this trip. Why, even if he ain't blown onus, he'll give the whole thing away. If he didn't want to they'd makehim come through if they laid their eyes on him. They've got more tricksthan a Chinese mandarin to make a man talk. Stands to reason he'll tell'em. If he can talk when they git here, " he added ominously, standinghalf-way between the table and the door to the corridor, his handopening and closing suggestively. "The crew'd settle his hash if Ididn't. They ain't fools. They know what's ahead of 'em in Japan. You, Rainey, git busy with that log. That gunboat'll have a boat alongsidethis floe inside of ninety minnits. "

But Peggy Simms was between him and the door. 

"You shan't do it, " she said, her eyes hard as flints, if Lund's werelike steel. "You don't know what he was to me when--when dad was buried. Call him in and let him talk for himself or--or _I'll tell the Japanesemyself what we have come for!_"

Lund stood staring at her, his face hard, his beard thrust out like abush with the jut of his jaw. Still she faced him, resolute, barely upto his shoulder, slim, defiant. Gradually his features crinkled into agrin. 

"I believe you would, " he said at last. "An' I'd hate to fix you the wayI would Tamada. But, mind you, if I don't git a definite promise out ofhim that rings true, I'll have to stow him somewheres, where they won'tfind him. An' that won't be on board ship. "

The girl's face softened. 

"You said you played fair, " she said with a sigh of relief. She steppedto the door, opened it, and called for Tamada. The Japanese appearedalmost instantly. Lund closed the door behind him and locked it. 

"You know there's a patrol comin' up, Tamada?" he asked. "A Jap patrol?"

"Yes. "

"What do you intend tellin' 'em if they come on board?"

"Nothing, if I can help it. I think I can. I am not friendly withJapanese government. It would be bad for me if they find me. One time Ibelong Progressive Party in Japan. I make much talk. Too much. Thegovernment say I am too progressive. "

Rainey imagined he caught a glint of humor in Tamada's eyes as he madehis clipped syllables. 

"So, I leave my country. Suppose I go on steamer I think that governmentthey stop me. I think even in California they may make trouble, if theyfind me. So I go in _sampan_. Sometimes Japanese cross to California in_sampan_. "

"That's right, " said Rainey. He had handled more than one story ofJapanese crews landing on some desolate portion of the coast to avoidimmigration laws and steamer fares. Generally they were rounded up aftertheir perilous, daring crossing of the Pacific. Tamada's story held theelements of truth. Even Lund nodded in reserved affirmation. 

"Also I ship on _Karluk_ as cook because of perhaps trouble if some oneknow me in San Francisco. I think much better if they do not see me. Ihave a plan. Also I want my share of gold. Suppose that gunboat find me, find out about gold, they will not give me reward. You do not knowJapanese. They will put me in prison. It will be suggest to me, becauseI am of _daimio_ blood"--Tamada drew himself up slightly as he claimedhis nobility--"that I make _hari-kari_. That I do not wish. I amProgressive. I much rather cook on board _Karluk_ and get my share ofgold. "

Lund surveyed him moodily, half convinced. The girl was all eagerapproval. 

"What is your plan, Tamada?"

"We're losin' time on that log, " cut in Lund. "Git busy, Rainey. Lookamong Carlsen's stuff. He may have kept one. Dope up one of 'em, an'burn the other. Now then, Tamada, dope out yore scheme; it's got to bea good one. "

Both Lund and the girl were laughing when Rainey came out into the maincabin again with the records. Tamada had disappeared. 

"He's some fox, " said Lund. "Miss Peggy, you better superintend thetheatricals. It's got to be done right. Rainey, not to interrupt you, what do you know about enteric fever?"

"Nothing. "

"Well, it's the same as typhoid. There'll be a surgeon aboard thatgunboat. You got to bluff him. Say little an' look wise as an' owl. Don't let him mix in with yore patient. "

"My patient?"

"Tamada! He's got enteric fever. If there's time he'll give you all thedope. "

"But I don't see how that--"

"You will see when you see Tamada, " Lund grinned. "How about them logs?Can you fix 'em?"

"I think so. "

"Then hop to it. I'm goin' to wise up the men and arrange a receptioncommittee. Don't forgit yore name's Carlsen, an' mine's Simms. "

Rainey wrote rapidly in his log, erasing, eliminating pages withouttrace, imitating the skipper's phrasing. Fortunately Simms had madescant entries at first and, later on, as the drug held him, none at all. Carlsen had kept no record that he could find. The girl had gone forwardto aid with Tamada's plan which Lund had evidently accepted. 

Before he had quite finished he heard the tramp of men on deck and theblast of a steam whistle. He ended his task and went up to see thegunboat, gray and menacing, its brasses glistening, men on her decks attheir tasks, oblivious of the schooner, and officers on her bridgewatching the progress of a launch toward the floe. 

It made landing smartly, and a lieutenant, diminutive but highlyeffective in appearance, led six men toward the _Karluk_. He wore asword and revolver; the men carried carbines. Their disciplined rank andsmartness, the waiting launch, the gunboat in the offing, were ominouswith the suggestion of power, the will to administer it. The officer incommand carried his chin at an arrogant tilt. Lund had rigged a gangwayand stood at the head of it, saluting the lieutenant as the lattersnappily answered the greeting. 

Rainey found the girl and put a hurried question. 

"What about Tamada? Where is he? What's the plan?"

She turned to him with eyes that danced with excitement. 

"He's in the galley, Doctor Carlsen. But he isn't Tamada any more. He'sJim Cuffee, nigger cook, sick with enteric fever, not to be disturbed. "

Rainey stared. It was a clever device, if Tamada could carry it out, andhe bear his own part in the masquerade. The willingness of Tamada torisk the disguise was assurance of his fidelity. 

"Lund should have told me, " he said. "I've got to change his name onthe papers. It won't take a minute though; he doesn't appear in thelog. "

The Japanese officer wasted no time on deck. For precaution, Rainey madehis alteration in the skipper's cabin, leaving the log there on thebuilt-in desk. 

"This is Lieutenant Ito, Doctor Carlsen, " said Lund. "You want to seeour papers, Lieutenant?"

"My orders are to examine the schooner, " said Ito, in English, even moreperfect than Tamada's. His face was officially severe, though his slanteyes shifted constantly toward the girl. Evidently she was an unexpectedfeature of the visit. 

"I'll get the papers first, " said Lund. "Doctor, you an' Peggy entertainthe lieutenant. " Rainey set out some whisky, which the Japanese refused, some cigars that he passed over with a motion of his hand. He sat downstiffly and ran through the papers. 

"We're pelagic, you know, " said Lund. "We ain't trespassin' on purpose. Didn't even know you owned the island. "

"It is on our charts, " said Ito crisply, as if that settled the right ofdominion. "How did you come here at all?"

"We was brought, " said Lund. "Got froze in north o' Wrangell. Gale setus west as we come out o' the Strait. We're bound for Corwin. Nothin'contraband. All reg'lar. Six hunters, two damaged in the gale, thoughthe doc's fixed 'em up. Twelve seamen, one boy, an' a nigger cook who'spizened himself with his own cookin'. Doc's bringin' him round, too, though he don't deserve it. Want to make yore inspection? We're in nohurry to git away until the ice melts. Take yore time. "

The little, dapper officer with his keen, high-cheeked face, and hisshoe-brush hair, got up and bowed, with a side glance at Peggy Simms. 

"It is not usual for young ladies to be so far north. " His endeavor atgallantry was obvious. 

"I am with my father, " said the girl, looking at Rainey, enjoying thesituation. 

"Where I go she goes, " said Lund. And looked in turn at her with relishin his double suggestion. He, too, was playing the game, gambling, believing in his luck, reckless, now he had set the board. 

They passed through the corridor. Lund opened up the strong-room, andthen the galley. It was orderly, and there was a moaning figure inTamada's bunk, a tossing figure with a head bound in a red bandannaabove the black face and neck that showed above the blankets. The eyeswere closed. The black hands, showing lighter palms, plucked at thecoverings. 

"Delirious, " said Lund. "Serves him right. He's a rotten cook. "

"Have you all the medicines you need?" asked Ito. "I can send oursurgeon. "

"I can manage, " returned Rainey, _alias_ Carlsen. "It's enteric. I'vereduced the fever. "

They passed on through the hunters' quarters. The girl fell behind withRainey. 

"A good make-up and a good actor, " she whispered. "I helped him to besure he covered everything that would show. It was my idea about thebandanna. Just what a sick negro might wear, and it hid his straighthair. "

The lieutenant appeared fairly satisfied, but requested that Lund go onboard his ship. He stayed there until sundown, returning in hilariousmood. 

"We've slipped it over on 'em this time, " he said. "I left 'em aswimwith _sake_, an' bubblin' over with polite regrets. But they'll be backin three weeks, they said, if the ice is open. An', if the luck holds, we'll be out of it. I don't want them searchin' the ship ag'in. " Heslapped Tamada on the back as he came to serve supper after Sandy hadlaid the table. 

"A reg'lar vodeville skit, " he exclaimed. "You're some actor, Tamada!But why didn't you say the island was down on their charts? They've evengot a name for it. Hiyama. "

"It means hot mountain, " said Tamada. "The government names manyislands. "

"You can bet yore life they do, " said Lund. "They're smart, but theyoverlooked that beach an' they've given us three weeks to cash in. "

Lund himself had imbibed enough of the _sake_ to make him loose oftongue, added to his elation at the success he had achieved. The gunboatwas gone on its patrol, and he had a free hand. He half filled a glasswith whisky. "Here's to luck, " he cried. And spilled a part of theliquor on the floor before he set the glass to his lips. 

"Here's to you, Doc, " he added. "An' to Peggy!" He rolled eyes that werea trifle bloodshot at the girl. 

"Our relations have gone back as usual, Mr. Lund, " she said quietly. Lund glared at her half truculently. 

"I'm agreeable, " he said. "As a daughter, I disown you from now on, MissPeggy. Here's to ye, jest the same!"

CHAPTER XVII

MY MATE

From the day following the arrival and departure of the Japanesegunboat, they attacked the little U-shaped beach that lay between twobuttresses of the volcano and sloped sharply down to the sea. Twenty-onemen, a lad and a woman, they went at the despoiling of it with a sort ofobsession, led, rather than driven, by Lund, who worked among the restof them like a Hercules. 

From the beginning the tongue of shingle promised to be almostincredibly rich. Between these two spurs of mountain the tide had washedand flung the rich, free-flaking gold of a submarine vein, piling it upfor unguessable years. Ebb tides had worked it in among the gravel, floods had beaten it down; the deeper they went to bedrock, the richerthe pan. 

The men's fancy estimate of a million dollars began speedily to seemsmall as the work progressed, systematically stripping the rocky floorof all its shingle, foot by foot, and cubic yard by cubic yard, cradlingit in crude rockers, fluming it, vaporizing the amalgam of gold andmercury, and adding pound after pound of virgin gold to the sacks in theschooner's strong-room. 

They worked at first in alternating shifts of four hours, by day andnight, under the sun, the moon, the stars and the flaming aurora. Thecrust was drilled here and there where it had frozen into conglomerate, and exploded by dynamite, carefully placed so as not to dislodge themasses of ice that overhung the schooner. Fires to thaw out the groundwere unavailable for sheer lack of fuel; there was no driftwood betweenthese forestless shores. What fuel could be spared was conserved for useunder the boilers that melted ice to provide water for the cradles andflumes, and help to cook the meals that Tamada prepared out-of-doors forthe workers. 

Buckets of coffee, stews, and thick soups of peas and lentils, masses ofbeans with plenty of fat pork, these were what they craved after hoursof tremendous endeavor. Despite the cold, they sweated profusely attheir tasks, stripping off over-garments as they picked and shoveled orcrowbarred out the rich gravel. 

Peggy Simms worked with the rest, assisting Tamada, helping to servewith Sandy. Deming, and Beale, the man with the damaged ribs, were givenodd jobs that they could handle: feeding the fires, washing up, orassisting at the little forge where the drills were sharpened. 

Through all of it Lund was supreme as working superintendent. There wasno job that he could not, did not, handle better than any two of them, and, though Rainey could see a shrinkage, or a compression, of his bulkas day by day he called upon it for heroic service, he never seemed totire. 

"Got to keep 'em at it, " he would say in the cabin. "No time to lose, an' the odds all against us, in a way. Barring Luck. That's what we gotto count on, but we don't want them thinkin' that. If the weather don'tbreak--an' break jest right--as soon as we've cleaned up, we're stung. Though I'll blast a way out of this shore ice, if it comes to the worst. I saved out some dynamite on purpose. "

"We ought to have brought a steam-shovel along, " said Rainey. He washard as iron, but he had served a tough apprenticeship to labor, and hishands and nails, he fancied, would never get into shape again. 

"Now you're talkin', " agreed Lund. "We c'ud have handled it in fineshape an' left the machine behind as junk or a souvenir for our Japfriends. We've got to cut out this four-hour shift. Too much time wastedchangin'. Too many meals. We'll make it one long, steady shift of allhands long as we can stand up to it, an' all git reg'lar sleep. I'mneedin' some myself. "

Rainey knew that neither he nor Hansen got within two-thirds as muchout of their shifts as when Lund was in command, though he had giventhem the pick of the men. It was not that the men malingered, theysimply, neither of them, had the knack of keeping the work going at topspeed and top effectiveness. 

But, with Lund handling all of them as a unit, it was not long beforethe shovels began to scrape on the bare rock that underlay the gravel attide edge, and work swiftly back to the end of the U. The outdoorskitchen had been established on top of the promontory between theschooner and the beach, a primitive arrangement of big pots slung fromtripods over fires kindled on a flat area that was partly sheltered fromthe sea and the prevailing winds by outcrops of weathered lava. 

At dawn the men trooped from the schooner to be fed and warmed, and thenthey flung themselves at their task. The more they got out the morethere was in it for them. But Lund was their overlord, their better, andthey knew it. Only Deming worked with one hand the handle of the forgebellows, or fed the fires, and sneered. 

Lund stood a full head above the tallest of them, which was Rainey, andhe was always in the thick of the work, directing, demanding the utmost, and setting example to back command. His eyes had bothered him, and hehad made a pair of Arctic snow-glasses, mere circles of wood with slitsin them. But under these the sweat gathered, and he discarded them, resorting to the primitive device of smearing soot all about his eyes. This, he said, gave him relief, but it made him a weird sort of Calibanin his labors. 

On the fifteenth day, with the work better than half done, with morethan a ton of actual gold in colors, that ranged from flour dust tonuggets, in the strong-room, the weather began to change. It mistedcontinually, and Lund, rejoicing, prophesied the breaking up of the coldsnap. 

By the eighteenth day a regular Chinook was blowing, melting the sharperoutlines of the icy crags and pinnacles, and providing streams ofmoisture that, in the nights now gradually growing longer, glazed everyyard of rock with peril. 

The men worked in a muck with their rubber sea-boots worn out byconstant chafing, sweaters torn, the blades of their shovels reduced bythe work demanded of them, the drills, shortened by steady sharpening, gone like the spare flesh of the laborers, who, at last, began to showsigns of quicker and quicker exhaustion with occasional mutterings ofdiscontent, while Lund, intent only upon cleaning off the rock as adentist cleans a crumbling tooth, coaxed and cursed, blamed and praisedand bullied, and did the actual work of three of them. 

Dead with fatigue, filled with food, drowsy from the liberal grogallowance at the end of the day, the men slept in a torpor every nightand showed less and less inclination to respond, though the end of theirlabors was almost in sight. 

"What's the use, we got enough, " was the comment beginning to be heardmore and more frequently. "Lund, he's got more'n he can spend in alifetime!"

Rainey could not trace these mutterings to Deming's instigation, but hesuspected the hunter. There was no poker; all hands were too tired forplay. 

The ice in which the schooner was packed began to show signs ofdisintegration. The surface rotted by day and froze again by night andthis destroyed its compactness. If the sun's arc above the horizon hadbeen longer, its rays more vertical, the ice must infallibly have meltedand freed the _Karluk_, for it was salt-water ice, and there were timeswhen the thermometer stayed above its freezing point for two or threehours around noon. 

Lund gave the holding floe scant attention. So long as the presentweather kept up he declared that he could dynamite his way out inside offour hours. 

The effect of all this on Rainey was a bit bewildering. He was judginglife by new standards far apart from his own modes and, though he, too, worked with a will, and rejoiced in the freer effort of his muscles, theresult comparing favorably with the best of the others--save Lund--hecould not assimilate the general conditions. 

They were too purely physical, he told himself; he missed his oldhabits, the reading and discussion of books, new and old, the goodrestaurants of San Francisco, and the chat he had been used to hold overtheir tables, companionable, witty, the exchange and stimulation ofideas. 

He missed the theaters, the concerts, the passing show of well-dressedwomen, a hodge-podge of flesh-pots and mental uplift. He got to dreamingof these things nights. 

Daytimes, he saw plainly that, in this environment at least, Lund wasbig, and the rest of them comparatively small. He believed that Lundcould actually form a little kingdom of his own, as he had suggested, and make a success of it. But it would not be a kingdom that fosteredthe arts. It would cultivate the sciences, or at least encourage themand adopt results as applied to land development, and, if necessary, thedefense of the kingdom. 

Lund would be a figure in war and peace, peace of the practical sort, the kind of peace that went with plenty. He was no dreamer, but autilitarian. Perhaps, after all, the world most needed such men justnow. 

As for Peggy Simms, she did not lose the polish of her culture, she wasalways feminine, even dainty at times, despite her work, that could nothelp but be coarse to a certain extent. She was full of vigor, sheshowed unexpected strength, she was a source of encouragement to the menas she waited on them. And also a source of undisguised admiration, allof which she shed as a duck sheds water. She was filled with aboundinghealth, she moved with a free grace that held the eye and lingered inthe mind. She was eminently a woman, and she also was big. 

Rainey gained an increasing respect in her prowess, and a swiftconversion to the equality of the sexes. There were times when hedoubted his own equality. Had she met him on his own ground, in his ownrealm of what he considered vaguely as culture, he would have known amastery that he now lacked. As it was, she averaged higher, and she hadan attraction of sex that was compelling. 

Here was a girl who would demand certain standards in the man with whomshe would mate, not merely accompany through life. There were times whenRainey felt irresistibly the charm of her as a woman, longed for her inthe powerful sex reactions that inevitably follow hard labor. There weretimes when he felt that she did not consider that he measured up to hergages, and he would strive to change the atmosphere, to dominate thesituation in which Lund was the greater figure of the two men. 

The rivalry that Lund had suggested between them as regards the girl, Rainey felt almost thrust upon him. There were moods which Peggy Simmsturned to him for sharing, but there was scant time in the waking hoursfor love-making, or even its consideration. 

Lund was centered on one achievement, the gold harvest. He ordered thegirl with the rest; there were even times when he reprimanded her, whileRainey burned with the resentment she apparently did not share. 

A little before dawn on the eighteenth day of the work upon the beach, Lund was out upon the floe examining the condition of the ice. He haddeclared that two days more of hard endeavor would complete theirlabors. What dirt remained at the end of that time they would transship. Rainey had joined the girl and Tamada at the cook fires. 

The sky was bright with the aurora borealis that would pale before thesun. The men were not yet out of their bunks. They were bone and muscletired, and Rainey doubted whether Lund, gaunt and lean himself, couldget two days of top work out of them. Near the fires for the cooking, the melting of water and the forge, that were kept glowing all night, the tools were stacked, to help preserve their temper. 

The aurora quivered in varying incandescence as Rainey watched Lundprodding at the floe ice with a steel bar. The girl was busy with thecoffee, and Tamada was compounding two pots of stew and bubbling peaspudding for the breakfast, food for heat and muscle making. 

Sandy appeared on deck and came swiftly over the side of the vessel andup the worn trail to the fires. He showed excitement, Rainey fancied, sure of it as the lad got within speaking distance. 

"Where is Mr. Lund?" he panted. 

Rainey pointed to Lund, now examining a crack that had opened up in thefloe, a possible line of exit for the _Karluk_, later on. The men werebeginning to show on the schooner. They, too, he noted somewhat idly, acted differently this morning. Usually they were sluggish until theyhad eaten, sleepy and indifferent until the coffee stimulated them, andLund took up this stimulus and fanned it to a flame of work. Thismorning they walked differently, abnormally active. 

"They're drunk, an' they're goin' on strike, " said Sandy. "You know thebig demijohn in the lazaretto?"

Rainey nodded. It was a two-handled affair holding five gallons, areserve supply of strong rum from which Lund dispensed the grogallowances and stimulations for extra work toward the end of the shift, the night-caps and occasional rewards. 

"They've swiped it, " he said. "Put an empty one from the hold in itsplace. We got plenty without usin' that one for a while, an' I onlyhappened to notice it this morning by chance. They've bin drinkin' allnight, I reckon. They're ugly, Mr. Rainey. It's the crew this time. Theygot the booze. The hunters are sober. Deming ain't in on this. They didit on their own. I don't know how they got it. I didn't get it for 'em, sir. They must have worked plumb through the hold an' got to it thatway. "

"All right, Sandy. Thanks. Mr. Lund can handle them, I guess. He'scoming now. "

The men had got to the ice, hidden from Lund, who was walking to the_Karluk_ on the opposite side of the vessel. The seamen weregesticulating freely; the sound of their voices came up to him where hestood, tinged with a new freedom of speech, rough, confident, menacing. As they climbed the trail their legs betrayed them and confirmed theboy's story. Behind them came the four hunters, with Hansen, walkingapart, watching the sailors with a certain gravity that communicateditself despite the distance. 

Lund showed at the far rail of the schooner with his bar. He glancedtoward the men going to work, went below, and came up with a sweater. Hehad left the bar behind him in the cabin, where it was used for a stovepoker. 

The men filed by Rainey, their faces flushed and their eyes unusuallybright. They seemed to share a prime joke that wanted to bubble up andover, yet held a restraint upon themselves that was eased by digs in oneanother's ribs, in laughs when one stumbled or hiccoughed. 

But Hansen was stolid as ever, and the hunters had evidently not sharedthe stolen liquor. Only Deming's eyes roved over the group of men asthey gathered round for their cups and pannikins of food. He seemed tobe calculating what advantage he could gain out of this unexpectedhappening. 

Peggy Simms, under cover of pouring the coffee, sweetened heavily withcondensed milk, found time to speak to Rainey. 

"They're all drunk, " she said. 

"Not all of them. Here comes Lund. He'll handle it. "

Lund seemed still pondering the problem of the floe. At first he did notnotice the condition of the sailors. Then he apparently ignored it. But, after they had eaten, he talked to all the men. 

"Two more days of it, lads, and we're through. The beach is nighcleared. We can git out of the floe to blue water easy enough, an' we'llgit a good start on the patrol-ship. We'll go back with full pockets an'heavy ones. The shares'll be half as large again as we've figgered. Iwouldn't wonder if they averaged sixteen or seventeen thousand dollarsapiece. "

Rainey had picked out a black-bearded Finn as the leader of the sailorsin their debauch. The liquor seemed to have unchained in him a spirit ofrevolt that bordered on insolence. He stood with his bowed legs apart, mittened hands on hips, staring at Lund with a covert grin. 

Next to Lund he was the biggest man aboard. With the rum giving anunusual coordination to his usually sluggish nervous system, he promisedto be a source of trouble. 

Rainey was surprised to see him shrug his shoulders and lead the way tothe beach. Perhaps breakfast had sobered them, though the fumes ofliquor still clung cloudily on the air. 

Lund went down, with Rainey beside him, reporting Sandy. 

"I'll work it out of 'em, " said Lund. "That booze'll be an expensiveluxury to 'em, paid for in hard labor. "

They found the men ranged up in three groups. Deming and Beale, againstcustom, had gone down to the beach. They were supposed to help clean thefood utensils, and aid Tamada after a meal, besides replenishing thefires. 

They stood a little away from the hunters and Hansen and the sailors. The Finn, talking to his comrades in a low growl, was with a separategroup. 

There was an air of defiance manifest, a feeling of suspense in the tinyvalley, backed by the frowning cone, ribbed by the two icy promontories. Lund surveyed them sharply. 

"What in hell's the matter with you?" he barked. "Hansen, send up a manfor the drills an' shovels. Yore work's laid out; hop to it!"

"We ain't goin' to work no more, " said the Finn aggressively. "Not fo'no sich wage like you give. "

"Oh, you ain't, ain't you?" mocked Lund. He was standing with Rainey inthe middle of the space they had cleared of gravel, the seamen lowerdown the beach, nearer the sea, their ranks compacted. "Why, youbooze-bitten, lousy hunky, what in hell do you want? You never sawtwenty dollars in a lump you c'u'd call yore own for more'n ten minnits. You boardin'-house loafer an' the rest of you scum o' the seven seas, git yore shovels an' git to diggin', or I'll put you ashore in SanFrancisco flat broke, an' glad to leave the ship, at that. _Jump!_"

The Finn snarled, and the rest stood firm. Not one of them knew the realvalue of their promised share. Money represented only counters exchangedfor lodging, food and drink enough to make them sodden before they hadspent even their usual wages. Then they would wake to find the restgone, and throw themselves upon the selfish bounty of a boarding-housekeeper. 

But they had seen the gold, they had handled it, and they were inflamedby a sense of what it ought to do for them. Perhaps half of them couldnot add a simple sum, could not grasp figures beyond a thousand, atmost. And the sight of so much gold had made it, in a manner, cheap. Itwas there, a heap of it, and they wanted more of that shining heap thanhad been promised them. 

"You talk big, " said the Finn. "Look my hands. " He showed palmscalloused, split, swollen lumps of chilblained flesh worn down andstiffened. "I bin seaman, not goddam navvy. "

Lund turned to the hunters. 

"You in on this?" he asked. Deming and Beale moved off. Two of theothers joined them. "Neutral?" sneered Lund. "I'll remember that. "Hansen and the two remaining came over beside Lund and Rainey. 

"Five of us, " said Lund. "Five men against twelve fo'c'sle rats. I'llgive you two minnits to start work. "

"You talk big with yore gun in pocket, " said the Finn. "Me good man asyou enny day. "

Lund's face turned dark with a burst of rage that exploded in voice andaction. 

"You think I need my gun, do ye, you pack of rats? Then try it onwithout it. "

His hand slid to his holster inside his heavy coat. His arm swung, therewas a streak of gleaming metal in the lifting sun-rays, flying over theheads of the seamen. It plunked in the free water beyond the ice. 

"Come on, " roared Lund, "or I'll rush you to the first bath you've hadin five years. " The Finn lowered his head, and charged; the restfollowed their leader. The hot food had steadied their motive control toa certain extent, they were firmer on their feet, less vague of eye, butthe crude alcohol still fumed in their brains. Without it they wouldnever have answered the Finn's call to rebellion. 

He had promised, and their drunken minds believed, that refusing in amass to work would automatically halt things until they got their"rights. " They had not expected an open fight. The spur of alcohol hadthrust them over the edge, given them a swifter flow of theirimpoverished blood, a temporary confidence in their own prowess, a mockvalor that answered Lund's contemptuous challenge. 

Lund, thought Rainey, had done a foolhardy thing in tossing away hisgun. It was magnificent, but it was not war. Pure bravado! But he hadscant time for thinking. Lund tossed him a scrap of advice. "Keepmovin'! Don't let 'em crowd you!" Then the fight was joined. 

The girl leaned out from the promontory to watch the tourney. Tamada, impassive as ever, tended his fires. Sandy crept down to the beach, drawn despite his will, and shuffled in and out, irresolute, too weak toattempt to mix in, but excited, eager to help. Deming, Beale, and thetwo neutral hunters, stood to one side, waiting, perhaps, to see whichway the fight went, reserves for the apparent victor. 

The Finn, best and biggest of the sailors, rushed for Lund, his littleeyes red with rage, crazy with the desire to make good his boast that hewas as good as Lund. In his barbaric way he was somewhat of a dancer, and his legs were as lissome as his arms. He leaped, striking with fistsand feet. 

Lund met him with a fierce upper-cut, short-traveled, sent from the hip. His enormous hand, bunched to a knuckly lump of stone, knocked the Finnover, lifting him, before he fell with his nose driven in, its boneshattered, his lips broken like overripe fruit, and his discolored teethknocked out. 

He landed on his back, rolling over and over, to lie still, halfstunned, while two more sprang for Lund. 

Lund roared with surprise and pain as one caught his red beard and swungto it, smiting and kicking. He wrapped his left arm about the man, crushing him close up to him, and, as the other came, diving low, butting at his solar plexus, the giant gripped him by the collar, usinghis own impetus, and brought the two skulls together with a thud thatleft them stunned. 

The two dropped from Lund's relaxed arms like sacks, and he stepped overthem, alert, poised on the balls of his feet, letting out a shout oftriumph, while he looked about him for his next adversary. 

The bedrock on which they fought was slippery where ice had formed inthe crevices. Two seamen tackled Hansen. He stopped the curses of onewith a straight punch to his mouth, but the man clung to his arm, bearing it down. Hansen swung at the other, and the blow went over theshoulder as he dodged, but Hansen got him in chancery, and the three, staggering, swearing, sliding, went down at last together, with Hansenunderneath, twisting one's neck to shut off his wind while he warded offthe wild blows of the second. With a wild heave he got on all-fours, and then Lund, roaring like a bull as he came, tore off a seaman andflung him headlong. 

"Pound him, Hansen!" he shouted, his eyes hard with purpose, shininglike ice that reflects the sun, his nostrils wide, glorying in thefight. 

The Finn had got himself together a bit, wiping the gouts of blood fromhis face and spitting out the snags of his broken teeth. He drew a knifefrom inside his shirt, a long, curving blade, and sidled, like a crab, toward Lund, murder in his piggy, bloodshot eyes, waiting for a chanceto slip in and stab Lund in the back, calling to a comrade to help him. 

"Come on, " he called, "Olsen, wit' yore knife. Gut the swine!"

Another blade flashed out, and the pair advanced, crouching, knees andbodies bent. Lund backed warily toward the opposite cliff, looking for aloose rock fragment. He had forbidden knives to the sailors since themutiny, and had forced a delivery, but these two had been hidden. Aknife to the Finn was a natural accessory. Only his drunken frenzy hadmade him try to beat Lund at his own game. 

One of the two hunters, lamed with a kick on the knee, howling with thepain, clinched savagely and bore the seaman down, battering his headagainst a knob of rock. The other friendly hunter had bashed andbuffeted his opponent to submission. But Rainey was in hard case. 

A seaman, half Mexican, flew at him like a wildcat. Rainey struck out, and his fists hit at the top of the breed's head without stopping him. Then he clinched. 

The Mexican was slippery as an eel. He got his arms free, his hands shotup, and his thumbs sought the inner corners of Rainey's eyes. Thesudden, burning anguish was maddening and he drove his clasped fistsupward, wedging away the drilling fingers. 

Two hands clawed at his shoulders from behind. Some one sprang fairly onhis back. A knee thrust against his spine. 

The agony left him helpless, the vertebræ seemed about to crack. Strength and will were shut off, and the world went black. And then oneof the hunters catapulted into the struggle, and the four of them wentdown in a maddened frenzy of blows and stifled shouts. 

The sailors fought like beasts, striving for blows barred by all codesof decency and fair play, intent to maim. Lund had got his shouldersagainst the rocks and stood with open hands, watching the two with theirknives, who crept in, foot by foot, to make a finish. 

Peggy Simms, a strand of her pale yellow hair whipped loose, flung itout of her eyes as she stood on the edge of the cliff, her lips apart, her breasts rising stormily, watching; her features changing with thetide of battle as it surged beneath her, punctuated with muffled shoutsand wind-clipped oaths. She saw Lund at bay, and snatched out herpistol. But the distance was too great. She dared not trust her aim. 

Sandy, dancing in and out, willing but helpless, bound by fear and lackof muscle, saw Deming, followed by Beale, stealing up the trail, unnoticed by the girl, who leaned far forward, watching the fight, hereyes on Lund and the two creeping closer with their knives, cautious butdetermined. Tamada stood farther back and could not see them. 

The lad's wits, sharpened by his forecastle experience, surmised whatDeming and Beale were after as they gained the promontory flat and rantoward the fires. 

"Hey!" he shrilled. "Look out; they're after the tools!"

Deming's hand was stretched toward a shovel, its worn steel scoop sharpas a chisel. Beale was a few feet behind him. They were going to tossthe shovels and drills down to the seamen. 

Tamada turned. His face did not change, but his eyes gleamed as hethrust a dipper in the steaming remnants of the pea-soup and flung thethick blistering mass fair in Deming's face. At the same moment thegirl's pistol cracked with a stab of red flame. Beale dropped, shot inthe neck, close to the collarbone, twisting like a scotched snake, rolling down the trail to the beach again. 

Deming, howling like a scorched devil, clawed with one hand at thesticky mass that masked him as he ran blind, wild with pain. He tripped, clutched, and lost his hold, slid on a plane of icy lava, smooth asglass, struck a buttress that sent him off at a tangent down the face ofthe cliff, bounding from impact with an outthrust elbow of the rock, whirling into space, into the icy turmoil of the waves, flooding intothe inlet. 

Peggy Simms fled down the trail with a steel drill in either hand, straight across the beach toward Lund. The Finn turned on her with asnarl and a side-swipe of his knife, but she leaped aside, dodged theother slow-foot, and thrust a drill at Lund, who grasped it with a cryof exultation, swinging it over his head as if it had been a bamboo. Hansen had shaken off his men, and came leaping in for the second drill. 

The knife fell tinkling on the frozen rock as Lund smashed the wrist ofthe Finn. The girl's gun made the second would-be stabber throw up hishands while Hansen snatched his weapon, flung it over the farther cliff, and knocked the seaman to the ground before he joined Lund, charging therest, who fled before the sight of them and the threat of the bars ofsteel. 

Lund laughed loud, and stopped striking, using the drill as a goad, driving them into a huddled horde, like leaderless sheep, knee-deep, thigh-deep, into the water, where they stopped and begged for mercywhile Hansen turned to put a finish to the separate struggles. 

It ended as swiftly as it had begun. One hunter could barely stand forhis kicked knee, Rainey's back was strained and stiffening, Lund hadlost a handful of his beard, and Hansen's cheek was laid open. 

On the other side the casualties were more severe. Deming was drowned, his body flung up by the tide, rolling in the swash. Beale was coughingblood, though not dangerously wounded. The Finn was crying over hisbroken wrist, all the fight out of him. Ribs were sore where notsplintered from the drills, and the two bumped by Lund sat up withsorely aching heads. The courage inspired by the liquor was all gone;oozed, beaten out of them. They were cowed, demoralized, whipped. 

Lund took swift inventory, lining them up as they came timorously out ofthe water or straggled against the cliff at his order. Tamada had comedown from the fires. Peggy had told of his share, and Sandy's timelyshout. Lund nodded at him in a friendly manner. 

"You're a white man, Tamada, " he said. "You, too, Sandy. I'll not forgetit. Rainey, round up these derelicts an' help Tamada fix 'em up. I'llsettle with 'em later. Hansen, put the rest of 'em to work, an' keep 'emto it! Do you hear? They got to do the work of the whole bunch. "

They went willingly enough, limping, nursing their bruises, whileHansen, his stolidity momentarily vanished in the rush of the fight andnot yet regained, exhibited an unusual vocabulary as he bossed them. Lund turned to the two hunters, who had stood apart. 

"Wal, you yellow-bellied neutrals, " he said, his voice cold and his eyeshard. "Thought I might lose, and hoped so, didn't you? Pick up thatskunk Beale an' tote him aboard. Then come back an' go to work. You'llgit yore shares, but you'll not git what's comin' to those who stood by. Now git out of my sight. You can bury That when you come back. " Henodded at the sodden corpse of Deming, flung up on the grit. "You cantake yore pay as grave-diggers out of what you owe him at poker. Heain't goin' to collect this trip. "

Rainey, lame and sore, helped Tamada patch up the wounded, turning thehunters' quarters into a sick bay, using the table for operation. Bealewas the worst off, but Tamada pronounced him not vitally damaged. Afterhe had finished with them he insisted upon Rainey's lying, face down, onthe table, stripped to the waist, while he rubbed him with oil and thenkneaded him. Once he gave a sudden, twisting wrench, and Rainey saw ablur of stars as something snapped into place with a click. 

"I think you soon all right, now, " said Tamada. 

"You and Miss Simms turned the tide, " said Rainey. "If they'd got thosetools first they'd have finished us in short order. "

"Fools!" said Tamada. "Suppose they kill Lund, how they get away? No oneto navigate. Presently the gunboat would find them. I think Mr. Lundwill maybe trust me now, " he said quietly. 

"What do you mean?"

"Mr. Lund think in the back of his head I arrange for that gunboat tocome. He can not understand how they know the schooner at island. Hethink to come jus' this time too much curious, I think. "

"It was a bit of a coincidence. "

Tamada shrugged his shoulders slightly. 

"I think Japanese government know all that goes on in North Polarregion, " he said. "There is wireless station on Wrangell Island. We passby that pretty close. "

Rainey chewed that information as he put on his clothes, wondering ifthey had seen the last of the gunboat. They would have to pass souththrough Bering Strait. It would be easy to overhaul them, halt them, search the schooner, confiscate the gold. They were not out of troubleyet. 

When he went into the cabin to replace his torn coat--he had hardly abutton intact above the waist, from jacket to undershirt--he found thegirl there with Lund. Apparently, they had just come in. Peggy Simms, with face aglow with the excitement that had not subsided, wasproffering Lund her pistol. 

"Keep it, " he said. "You may need it. I've got mine. "

"But you threw it into the water. I saw you. "

"No, " He laughed. "That wasn't my gun. They thought it was. I wantedto bring the thing to grips. But I wasn't fool enough to chuck away mygun. That was a wrench I was usin' this mornin' to fix the cabinstove--looks jest like an ottermatic. I stuck it in my inside pocket. Iwas ha'f a mind to shoot when they showed their knives, but I didn'twant to use my gun on that mess of hash. "

He stood tall and broad above her, looking down at the face that wasraised to his. Rainey, unnoticed as yet, saw her eyes bright withadmiration. 

"You are a wonderful fighter, " she said softly. 

"Wonderful? What about you? A man's woman! You saved the day. Comin' tome with them drills. An' we licked 'em. We. God!"

He swept her up into his arms, lifting her in his big hands, making nomore of her than if she had been a feather pillow, up till her face wason a level with his, pressing her close, while in swift, indignant rageshe fought back at him, striking futilely while he held her, kissed her, and set her down as Rainey sprang forward. 

Lund seemed utterly unconscious of the girl's revulsion. 

"Comin' to me with the drills!" he said. "We licked 'em. You an' metogether. My woman!"

Peggy Simms had leaped back, her eyes blazing. Lund came for her, hisface lit with the desire of her, arms outspread, hands open. BeforeRainey could fling himself between them, the girl had snatched thelittle pistol that Lund had set on the table and fired point-blank. Sheseemed to have missed, though Lund halted, his mouth agape, astounded. 

"You big bully!" said Rainey. Now that the time had come he found thathe was not afraid of Lund, of his gun, of his strength. "Play fair, doyou? Then show it! You asked me once why I didn't make love to her. Itold you. But you, you foul-minded bully! All you think of is your bigbody, to take what it wants. 

"Peggy. Will you marry me? I can protect you from this hulking brute. Ifit's to be a show-down between you and me, " he flared at Lund, stillgazing as if stupefied, "let it come now. Peggy?"

The girl, tears on her cheeks that were born from the sobs of anger thathad shaken her, swung on him. 

"You?" she said, and Rainey wilted under the scorn in her voice. "Marryyou?" She began to laugh hysterically, trying to check herself. 

"I didn't mean you enny harm, " said Lund slowly, addressing Peggy. "Why, I wouldn't harm you, gal. You're my woman. You come to me. I wasjest--jest sorter swept off my bearin's. Why, " he turned to Rainey, hisvoice down-pitching to a growl of angry contempt, "you pen-shovin'whippersnapper, I c'ud break you in ha'f with one hand. You ain't herbreed. But"--his voice changed again--"if it's a show-down, all right. 

"If I was to fight you, over her, I'd kill you. D'ye think I don'trespect a good gal? D'ye think I don't know how to love a gal right?She's _my_ mate. Not yours. But it's up to you, Peggy Simms. I didn'tmean to insult you. An' if you want him--why, it's up to you to choosebetween the two of us. "

She went by Rainey as if he had not existed, straight into Lund's arms, her face radiant, upturned. 

"It's you I love, Jim Lund, " she said. "A man. _My_ man. "

As her arms went round his neck she gave a little cry. 

"I wounded you, " she said, and the tender concern of her struck Raineyto the quick. "Quick, let me see. "

"Wounded, hell!" laughed Lund. "D'ye think that popgun of yores c'udstop me? The pellet's somewheres in my shoulder. Let it bide. By God, yo're my woman, after all. Lund's Luck!"

Rainey went up on deck with that ringing in his ears. His humiliationwore off swiftly as he crossed back toward the beach. By the time hecrossed the promontory he even felt relieved at the outcome. He was notin love with her. He had known that when he intervened. He had not eventold her so. His chivalry had spoken--not his heart. And his thoughtsstrayed back to California. The other girl, Diana though she was, wouldnever, in almost one breath, have shot and kissed the man she loved. Alingering vision of Peggy Simms' beauty as she had gone to Lund remainedand faded. 

"Lund's right, " he told himself. "She's not of my breed. "

CHAPTER XVIII

LUND'S LUCK

Lund glanced at the geyser of spray where the shell from the pursuinggunboat had fallen short, and then at the bank of mist ahead. They werein the narrows of Bering Strait, between the Cape of Charles and PrinceEdward's Point, the gold aboard, a full wind in their sails, makingeleven knots to the gunboat's fifteen. 

It was mid-afternoon, three hours since they had seen smoke to the northand astern of them. Either the patrol had found them gone from theisland, freed by blasting from the floe, and followed on the trail fullspeed, or the wireless from some Japanese station on the Tchukchis coasthad told of their homing flight. 

The great curtain of fog was a mile ahead. The last shell had fallen twohundred yards short. Five minutes more would settle it. Hansen had thewheel. Lund stood by the taffrail, his arm about Peggy Simms. He shook afist at the gunboat, vomiting black smoke from her funnel, foam abouther bows. 

"We'll beat 'em yet, " he cried. 

The next shell, with more elevation, whined parallel with them, spedahead, and smashed into the waves. 

"Hold yore course, Hansen! No time to zigzag. Got to chance it. Damn it, they know how to shoot!"

A missile had gone plump through main and foresails, leaving round holesto mark the score. Another fairly struck the main topmast, and somesplinters came rattling down, while the remnants of the top-sail flappedamid writhing ends of halyard and sheet. 

They entered the beginning of the fog, curling wisps of it reached out, twining over the bowsprint and headsails, enveloping the foremast, swallowing the schooner as a hurtling shell crashed into the stern. Thenext instant the mist had sheltered them. Lund released the girl andjumped to the wheel. 

"Now then, " he shouted, "we'll fool 'em!" He gripped the spokes, and themen ran to the sheets at command while the _Karluk_ shot off at rightangles to her previous course, skirting the fog that blanketed the windbut yet allowed sufficient breeze to filter through to give themheadway, gliding like a ghost on the new tack to the east. 

Rainey, tense from the explosion of the shell, jumped below at last andcame back exultant. 

"It was a dud, Lund!" he shouted. "Or else they didn't want to blow usup on account of the gold. But they've wrecked the cabin. The fog'scoming in through the hole they made. Tamada's galley's gone. It's rakedthe schooner!"

"So long's it's above the water line, to hell with it! We'll make out. Listen to the fools. They've gone in after us, straight on. "

The booming of the gunboat's forward battery sounded aft of them, dulled by the fog--growing fainter. 

"Lund's luck! We've dodged 'em!"

"They'll be waiting for us at the passes, " said Rainey. "They've got thespeed on us. "

"Let 'em wait. To blazes with the Aleutians! Ready again there for atack! Sou'-east now. We'll work through this till we git to the windag'in. It's all blue water to the Seward Peninsula. We're bound forNome. "

"For Nome?" asked Peggy Simms. 

"Nome, Peggy! An American port. The nearest harbor. An' the nearestpreacher!"

THE END