r_, that the _Karluk_ was listed as 'Arrived'
in San Francisco, it was all I could do to git carfare an' grub money.
If I hadn't bin blind, an' some of 'em half-way human to'ards a man with
his lights out, I'd never have raised it. I'd have got here someways,
matey, if I'd had to walk, but I'd have got here a bit late. Then I'd
have had to wait till Simms got back ag'in--an' mebbe starved to death.

"But I'm here an' I've got some say-so. One thing, you're goin' to git
Bergstrom's share. I don't give a damn where the doctor comes in. If he
marries the gal he'll git her twenty shares, ennyway. Though he ain't
married her yet. And I ain't through with Simms yet," he added, with an
emphasis that was a trifle grim, Rainey thought.

"The crew, hunters an' sailors, don't seem over glad to see me back,"
Lund went on. "Mebbe they figgered their shares 'ud be bigger. Mebbe the
doc's queered me. He's pussy-footin' about with 'em a good deal. But
I'll talk with you about that later. It's me an' you ag'in' the rest of
'em, seems to me, Rainey. The doc's aimin' to be the Big Boss aboard
this schooner. He's got the skipper buffaloed. But not me, not by a
jugful."

He slammed his big fist against the side of the bunk so viciously that
it seemed to jar the cabin. The blow was typical of the man, Rainey
decided. He felt for Lund not exactly a liking, but an attraction, a
certain compelled admiration. The giant was elemental, with a driving
force inside him that was dynamic, magnetic. What a magnificent pirate
he would have made, thought Rainey, looking at his magnificent
proportions and considering the crude philosophies that cropped out in
his talk.

"I'm in life for the loot of it, Rainey," Lund declared. "Food an' drink
to tickle my tongue an' fill my belly, the woman I happen to want, an'
bein' able to buy ennything I set my fancy on. The answer to that is
Gold. With it you can buy most enny thing. Not all wimmen, I'll grant
you that. Not the kind of woman I'd want for a steady mate. Thet's one
thing I've found out can't be bought, my son, the honor of a good
woman. An' thet's the sort of woman I'm lookin' for.

"I reckon yo're raisin' yore eyebrows at that?" he challenged Rainey.
"But the other kind, that'll sell 'emselves, 'll sell you jest as
quick--an' quicker. I'd wade through hell-fire hip-deep to git the right
kind--an' to hold her. An' I'll buck all hell to git what's comin' to me
in the way of luck, or go down all stan