"I gazed at him in wonder—and with more than a flurry of alarm. He advanced stiffly against the storm, walking like an automaton; his expression was absolutely inscrutable. Beneath the close-pulled rim of a black sou’wester his smooth, oval countenance looked ridiculously vacant, like the face of a placid moon. He was the only calm object in earth, sea, or sky; against the lashing rain, the dancing boats, the scudding clouds, the hurried shadows of appearing and vanishing men, he stood out solidly, a different essence, the embodiment of mind and will. Only these could have been superior to the grosser temptation; only these could have met the test, and risen to the awful stratagem. "And how was it with Wilbur, off there in the lead? He, too, walked stiffly, wrapped in thought. Once he turned round, as if to come back and speak to us; then whirled with a violent movement of decision and plunged on into the rain. He must have known, by now, what it was all about, if not what to expect. He must have known that his crime had been discovered. Yet he had made no break; in no particular had he given himself away. What had he been about to say?—what had he decided? To hold on, of course, maintain the bluff—for he could not believe that we knew all. Would he confess, when he faced death on the water? How long would he hold on? "Observing his broad back, his commanding figure, that looked thoroughly at home in its oilskin coat and leaning against the storm, it came to me that he would put up a desperate defence before he succumbed. He, too, was a strong man, and no part of a coward; he, too, in a different way, was a superior being, the embodiment of mind and will. I didn’t under-estimate him. Indeed, he was worthy of the occasion and of his adversary. It was to be a battle of the giants, with typhoon for background and accompaniment. "Then, for an instant, my own spirit went slump with the realization of what might lie ahead, and a great weakness overcame me. I edged again toward Lee Fu. "’My God, suppose the man is really innocent?’ I cried ’He hasn’t turned a hair....’ "Lee Fu gave me a flash of the moon-face beneath the sou’wester. "’Have no fear, my friend’ said he ’I am completely satisfied, in regions where the soul dwells. It has begun very well’ *VII* "When we reached the sampan, lying under a weather shore beneath the bulkhead, we found a scene of consternation. Lee Fu’s orders had arrived and been executed; yet the men couldn’t believe that he actually meant to sail. Gathered in a panic-stricken group on the fore deck of the sampan, they chattered like a flock of magpies; their gleaming wet bodies writhed in wild gestures under the half-light. As they caught sight of us, they swarmed across the bulkhead and fell at Lee Fu’s feet, begging for mercy.