He laid the barrel across our gunwale, which, so smoothly were the engines running made a fair rest, and fired. There was no result beyond that two shots came from the other boat and we heard a bullet sing over our heads. 'They too, it seems,' said Mr. Saunders Philipson deliberatively, 'have fallen into the error of aiming high. Now the great thing in life,' he observed as he reloaded, 'is to ... be wise ... from our failures ... so!' As a vindication of Philipson's philosophy it was immense, though I was a good deal too scared to appreciate philosophy at the time. It isn't pleasant to be pot-shotted, even in the vague light of night, particularly when, apart from the risk to our own skins, one unlucky bullet might have ruined our engine or our hull and left us at the mercy of a shipload of bloodthirsty pirates. There was a shriek of pain from behind us, followed by furious yells, and the firing held off. 'That has balanced the account for the time being,' said Philipson, resuming the tiller himself. 'But I have a horror of bloodshed. If I can possibly get away without firing another shot you may trust me to do so.' He was equal to his word. He handled that superb boat in a way that made my best efforts look childish, and though after a while our pursuers loosed off at us again, we were drawing too far ahead for the gunning to be deadly. The stream continues to wind until it meets the sea, but under Philipson's hand our course couldn't have been far short of a straight line; curve after curve he sheared away with consummate skill, as if he could not only see in the dark but sense the depth of water under us; and though once we did plough mud with our keel, the check was no more than momentary, and we had forged over into deep water again. Once, too, we burst clean through a string of lighters dropping down on the tide blind as ourselves, and I heard their towrope rattle sharply along the roof of our cabin as we shot under it. At last we came abreast of the junk fleet you can generally count on finding anchored at the mouth of the river. Beyond that, open sea and safety. Thanks to Philipson's brilliant boatcraft we had drawn so far ahead of the other launch that the noise of her engine was indistinguishable from ours, and I should have reckoned that with one good spurt we might now show our enemies a clean pair of heels. Much to my surprise, Philipson ordered Ah Sing to throttle down to half speed. 'It is risky, admittedly,' he said, 'but it will be safer in the long run.'