on their own
bloomin' coast, and then it's 'urrah for 'ome and the splicin' party,
eh, lad?"

Martin smiled happily.

"I don't mind landin' the four 'foremast 'ands, and lettin' them off
scott free except for their cuts and bumps," grumbled the bosun. "They
didn't 'ave no 'and in the plannin' of it. But to land that feller,
Ichi--swiggle me stiff, if I 'ad my way, I land that blighter in the
air, below the tops'l yardarm, with a bloomin' noose around 'is neck!
Why, 'e was the ruddy bird wot started the business!"

"But I promised him his life," said Martin. "And--my God, Bosun,
hasn't there been enough death on this ship?"

"Well, anyway, that feller, Ichi, is lucky 'e wasn't on board when we
'ad the grand fight," vowed the Bosun. "I was looking for 'im; I 'ad
'im marked for my meat. Swiggle me, 'e'd 'ave gone over the side if I
got my 'ands on 'im that mornin'. Aye, and Yip was layin' for 'im,
too."

"How Yip hated them," mused Martin.

"Aye, that 'e did," agreed the bosun. "But 'e was a slick one, was
Yip. 'Oo but 'im would of thought o' dopin' their grub? And the
'olesale way 'e did it--mixin' a pint bottle o' cockroach killer in
with their rice. A white man wouldn't 'ave been able to do that. But
it give Yip his chance, when they got the bellyache, to skip for'ard
and lay out the 'atch guard with his cleaver. My blinkin' heye, when I
come up after 'e opened the 'atch, there 'e was with that Jap's neck
across the 'atch combin', and 'e was 'ackin' away and yellin' like a
wild Indian. Aye, and 'e'd 'ave 'acked some more o' them, if that shot
that was aimed at me 'adn't took 'im through the 'ead. Swiggle me,
Marty, I wouldn't 'ave been able to eat 'is grub after that."

"Nor I," agreed Martin. "Well, Bos, I think I'll take a turn below."

"Aye, I 'eard the lass' voice through the skylight, a moment since,"
observed the bosun, slyly. "Swiggle me--get along with ye, lad!" He
gave Martin a gentle nudge with his giant's elbow that nearly knocked
him down the hatch.

She was in the cabin, when Martin descended the stairs. She welcomed
him with a glance that more than repaid him for the bosun's thump; aye,
that repaid him (he would have sworn) for all the pain and misery he
had ever suffered.

She was standing by her grandfather's side, and the latter was seated
at the cabin table, a mess of papers before him.

"Well, my boy, I've just been figuring out our fortune," he hailed
Martin. "It's