uareheads; she had
no doubt he could do all that, and instantly. I was not so sure. I
didn't think that anything or anybody could stop the crew--unless it
was killing Swope, which she forbade. But I didn't say so.

And in any event, the immediate thing to do was to release Newman. It
would at least give him a fighting chance. She urged haste, and I
worked like a fiend. It was hard work. The deck planking was three
inches thick, and the number of holes I must bore seemed endless. I
was surprised at the amount of work already accomplished; it did not
seem possible that this slender woman had done the two long rows of
holes. Nor had she, I learned. Wong had bored most of them, during
the odd moments he could slip away unobserved from his work. The
tradesman who furnished the tool had even driven a few. The lady had
done some of the work, as the condition of her hands proved. But my
coming was really providential. She could never have finished the job
on time, and now she knew of the crew's intention, she recognized the
need of haste.

I longed mightily for a saw. Yet I knew I could not have used a saw
had I possessed one. A saw makes a carrying noise. The tool I had was
nearly noiseless. I sweated and wondered, and now and then asked a
question.

I wondered what Lynch would do when the lads came aft. Aye, and I
discovered that this was one reason the lady was so terrified at the
prospect of mutiny. For Lynch, she was certain, would make common
cause with the rest of the afterguard against any uprising forward. He
was helping her and Newman. But he had no interest in helping the
hands. The hands were just hands to him, so much beef to work and
beat. He would never side with the foc'sle against the cabin.

"I have sailed three voyages with Lynch," said she. "He is a hard man,
a cruel man; I have seen him do terrible things to sailors. But he is
also, according to his lights, a just man. His brutality is always for
what he considers the ship's welfare, never for any personal reason.
You know how he has treated you, and Roy, and other men who know and do
their work."

"Fair enough," I admitted.

"When my--my husband tried to kill Roy, that night you and he were
aloft together, he violated James Lynch's very strict code. He
considered that attempt a serious blot upon his honor. He told
him--Angus--as much. He told him he would not have that sort of thing
in his watch. It wasn't regard for