he said, established on the bunk, while Sandy stood by the
partition, slouching, irresolute, his slack jaw working as if he was
chewing something, "what is it, my lad?"

"They'd kick the stuffin' out of me if they knew this," said Sandy.
"I've bin warned to hold my tongue. Deming said he'd cut it out if I
chattered. An' he would. But--"

"But what? Sit down, Sandy; I won't give you away."

"You went overboard after me, sir. None of them would. I've heard what
Mr. Carlsen said, that I didn't ermount to nothin'. Mebbe I don't, but
I've got my own reasons for hangin' on. Me, of course I don't ermount to
much. Why would I? If I ever had mother an' father, I never laid eyes on
'em. I've made my own livin' sence I was eight. I've never 'ad enough
grub in my belly till I worked for Tamada. The Jap slips me prime
fillin'. He's only a Jap, but he's got more heart than the rest o' that
bloody bunch put tergether."

Rainey nodded.

"Tell me what you know, quickly. You may be wanted any minute."

The words seemed to stick in the lad's dry throat, and then they came
with a gush.

"It's the doc! It's Carlsen who's turned 'em into a lot of bloody
bolsheviks, sir. Told 'em they ought to have an ekal share in the gold.
Ekal all round, all except Tamada--an' me. I don't count. An' Tamada's a
Jap. The men is sore at Mr. Lund becoz he sez the skipper left him
be'ind on the ice. Carlsen's worked that up, too. Said Lund made 'em all
out to be cowards. 'Cept Hansen, that is. He don't dare say too much, or
they'd jump him, but Hansen sort of hints that Cap'n Simms ought to have
gone back after Lund, could have gone back, is the way Hansen put it. So
they're all goin' to strike."

Rainey's mind reacted swiftly to Sandy's talk. It seemed inconceivable
that Carlsen would be willing to share alike with the hunters and the
crew. Sandy's imagination had been running wild, or the men had been
making a fool of him. The girl's share would be thrown into the common
lot. And then flashed over him the trick by which Carlsen had disposed
of all the ammunition in the hunters' possession. He had a deeper scheme
than the one he fed to the hunters, and which he merely offered to serve
some present purpose. Rainey's jaw muscles bunched.

"Go on, Sandy," he said tersely.

"There ain't much more, sir. They're goin' to put it up to Lund. First
they figgered some on settin' him ashore with you an' the Jap. That's
what Carlsen put up to 'em. But they war