"As we issued from the doorway, the gale caught us with a swirl that carried us round the corner and down a side street before we could get our breath. ’To the right’ Lee Fu shouted. Wilbur, lurching ahead, obeyed sullenly. We came about and made for the water front through the fringe of the Chinese quarter—the most remarkable trio, perhaps, that had ever threaded those familiar thoroughfares. Few people were abroad; a Chinaman now and then scurried to cover in our path, and more infrequently we caught sight of a stray European in the distance, called out somewhere by the exigencies of business. "Overhead, the sky had settled low on the slope of the Peak, cutting off the heights from view; it presented the aspect of a heavy leaden roof, spreading above the mainland to northward, fitting tight along the horizon, and seeming to compress the whole atmosphere. Torrents of rain fell from the frequent squalls; the running water in the streets spurted about our ankles. We floundered on, enveloped in a sort of grey gloom like that of an eclipse. When we reached the harbour, the face of the bay had undergone a sinister change; its yellow-green waters were lashed into sickly foam, and shrouded by an unnatural gleaming darkness. A distant moaning sound ran through the upper air, vague yet distinctly audible. It was evident to the practised eye that the southern margin of the typhoon wasn’t far away; with the wind in this quarter, its centre was headed straight in our direction. "As we staggered along the quay, my thoughts worked rapidly. The wind and the open had cleared my mind as to the swift events of the last half-hour; I began to perceive the plan, now, and immediately recognized the dangerous nature of the undertaking on which we’d embarked. It was to be a game of bluff, in which we should have to risk our lives if the other held his ground. I’d seen Lee Fu in action; I knew that he would hesitate at nothing, since his face was committed to the enterprise. "I edged toward him. ’Will you go on the water?’ I asked close to his ear. "He nodded, keeping his eyes fixed on Wilbur. "’But it can’t be done’ I told him ’A boat won’t live....’ "’There is always a definite alternative’ he replied. "’Yes, that she sinks’ "’Exactly’ "I drew away, reviewing the details once more.... All at once, in a flash of enlightenment, the greatness of the occasion came to me. By Jove! Lee Fu had taken the matter into his own hands, he had stepped in where the gods were impotent. But not rudely, as men are apt to do in sudden passion; not with blood and vengeance, an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth. No, he had observed the divine proprieties; had recognized that if he presumed to act for the gods, he must throw his own life as well into the balance. He himself must run every risk. It was for them, after all, to make the final choice. His part was to force action on the gods.