"They're too many for us," he whimpered. "We can't fight them all." I turned my back on him in disgust. The salmon boat had long since passed from sight behind a little archipelago known as the Marin Islands, so no help could be looked for from that quarter. Yellow Handkerchief came up to me in a familiar manner, the water in the cockpit slushing against his legs. I did not like his looks. I felt that beneath the pleasant smile he was trying to put on his face there was an ill purpose. I ordered him back, and so sharply that he obeyed. "Now keep your distance," I commanded, "and don't you come closer!" "Wha' fo'?" he demanded indignantly. "I t'ink-um talkee talkee heap good." "Talkee talkee," I answered bitterly, for I knew now that he had understood all that passed between George and me. "What for talkee talkee? You no sabbe talkee talkee." He grinned in a sickly fashion. "Yep, I sabbe velly much. I honest Chinaman." "All right," I answered. "You sabbe talkee talkee, then you bail water plenty plenty. After that we talkee talkee." He shook his head, at the same time pointing over his shoulder to his comrades. "No can do. Velly bad Chinamen, heap velly bad. I t'ink-um--" "Stand back!" I shouted, for I had noticed his hand disappear beneath his blouse and his body prepare for a spring. Disconcerted, he went back into the cabin, to hold a council, apparently, from the way the jabbering broke forth. The _Reindeer_ was very deep in the water, and her movements had grown quite loggy. In a rough sea she would have inevitably swamped; but the wind, when it did blow, was off the land, and scarcely a ripple disturbed the surface of the bay. "I think you'd better head for the beach," George said abruptly, in a manner that told me his fear had forced him to make up his mind to some course of action. "I think not," I answered shortly. "I command you," he said in a bullying tone. "I was commanded to bring these prisoners into San Rafael," was my reply. Our voices were raised, and the sound of the altercation brought the Chinese out of the cabin. "Now will you head for the beach?" This from George, and I found myself looking into the muzzle of his revolver--of the revolver he dared to use on me, but was too cowardly to use on the prisoners. My brain seemed smitten with a dazzling brightness. The whole situation, in all its bearings, was focussed sharply before me--the shame of losing the prisoners, the worthlessness and cowardice of George, the meeting with Le Grant and the other patrol-men and the lame explanation; and then there was the fight I had fought so hard, victory wrenched from me just as I thought I had it within my grasp. And out of the tail of my eye I could see the Chinese crowding together by the cabin doors and leering triumphantly. It would never do.