hangman opens the door and says 'Come!' and--"

"Stow that gab, or I'll let a knife into yer hide!" snarled Buckrow, and
he went over to the pile of sacks and began kicking the brown canvas
nervously.

Thirkle began to chuckle quietly, swaying his shoulders from side to side
in his simulated hilarity. Petrak, who was standing close to him, looked
at him in surprise.

"It will be a fine joke," said Thirkle in a low tone, as if speaking to
himself. "They do love to hang a red-headed man! Poor Petrak! They'll
have a great joke with him--Oh, ye there, Petrak, my lad! Well, I'm sorry
for ye; but ye can't blame me if Bucky gets ye in a jam. He says he can
go it alone now, and doesn't need Thirkle; but wait until the death-watch
is pacing outside the door like a Swedish skipper, and ye've only got an
hour left on earth, and then ye'll wish ye'd stuck to Thirkle.

"I'll bet all this gold here ye'll wish ye had Thirkle then, but Thirkle
won't be there to help. I say stick to Bucky if ye like, but ye'll find
he ain't Thirkle. Good-bye, Reddy. I never looked for ye to come to this;
but I can say ye'll hang if you go it with Bucky."

"I didn't do it, Thirkle; I didn't put ye where ye be," whimpered Petrak.
"I'm for cuttin' ye loose, but Bucky ain't."

"He's mad at me, and I can't argue with him, but if ye say a word or two
he'll mind ye; and remember, Petrak, if ye can't make him see it right,
ye'll hang--the two of ye--and ye know Thirkle always has it as it is."

Thirkle whispered something to Petrak which I did not catch, and then the
little rascal went over to Buckrow and began to talk with him quietly,
and finally began to plead for Thirkle.

"Ye're afraid of him," sneered Buckrow. "Ye're afraid of Thirkle with
reef-knots on his hands, and ye'll be afraid of him when he's dead, ye
coward!"

"I ain't afraid of him, Bucky, but he says we'll hang; and so we will if
we don't let him have a hand gettin' this gold clear away."

"He'll do for us; and then what good will the gold be to us? Reddy, ye
know the devil as I do; jind now he's got this pile he'll settle us when
he sees his way to it."

"Let him go, Bucky; let him go. The night'll be on us in an hour or so,
and then what'll we do? Leave it to Thirkle and it'll come out all right;
and I know it and you know it, Bucky. There's the two of us to him, and
we'll make him play it fair now."

"The two of us'll play it fair without him," said Buckrow. "Come on and
stow