Meanwhile Rutley's attention had been absorbed by the struggle going on between Jack and Virginia, but when he heard the footsteps on the roof his alarm became manifest. "I must get the child at once, or all will be lost," he muttered. Hastily taking a handkerchief from his pocket, he tied it about the lower part of his face, then he swung open the partition door and entered, the same instant that Jack had forced Virginia to her knees. Without a pause, he promptly made for Constance, grasped the child and tried to tear her from her mother. Constance, too affrighted to scream, resisted with all her might. "Let go, damn you--let go, or I'll drown her!" and with savage hands he wrenched Dorothy away from her. Trying to escape with Dorothy in his arms, Rutley confronted Virginia. "Release her!" she demanded. He looked at the dagger, quivering ominously in her hand, and Dorothy dropped from his nerveless hands and he jumped back beside Jack, hoarsely exclaiming, "God, she's a tartar!" "Run to your mother, Dorothy! To the boat, Constance, quick!" urged Virginia, as she stood erect, fearless and tragic between the men and their prey. "Are we curs to be daunted by this Oregon girl, this slip of a woman?" exclaimed Rutley hoarsely. "Beware! The edge is sharp, the poison deadly!" cautioned Virginia, in a voice that thrilled and which left no doubt as to her determination to use the weapon to the limit of her ability. Jack laughed--laughed low, hoarse and sarcastically. "He, he, he, he, he. Scarce da fine a lady--wid a da white a nice a hand. Mak-a eem all a da carmine, eh? He, he, he, he, he, he." She made no reply, yet there darted from her eyes a lightning flash of desperate purpose. Rutley clearly understood the sign and, leaning over close to Jack, whispered: "We must get the knife from her at all hazards." "Signora, good a da lady, eh! Mak a da bloody fista, eh!" Jack leered as he concentrated his gaze upon the girlish form drawn up to her fullest height before him. Again he laughed low and hoarsely: "Ha, ha, ha, ha! Eesa know a da way to fix 'em!" Swiftly opening the partition door, he thrust in his hand, pulled a covering off from the bunk, then after closing the door, he proceeded rapidly to tie the corners together, muttering meanwhile, "Eesa mak a da loop, lak a da bag. See! Ha, ha, ha, ha!" To Virginia the trap appeared so simple and ingenious, its application so promising of success, that as she watched its preparation her heart leaped to the opportunity presented as a last chance. "Attack them now--attack them now!" urged her judgment with startling force. Louder it seemed to grow, till at last, maddened by the very repugnance of its conception, a sickening sense of fear overpowered her, her nerves suddenly collapsed, and she seemed to lose the power of action.