I should not call it anything more than
mathematical certainty."

"Strain!" he snorted. "Simple as A, B, C! Mathematical certainty!"

He seemed to brace himself up and lean backward against the air as he
stared at me. "How about this here tide that's rushin' out through the
Golden Gate?" he demanded, or bellowed, rather. "How fast is she ebbin'?
What's the drift, eh? Listen to that, will you? A bell-buoy, and we're
a-top of it! See 'em alterin' the course!"

From out of the fog came the mournful tolling of a bell, and I could see
the pilot turning the wheel with great rapidity. The bell, which had
seemed straight ahead, was now sounding from the side. Our own whistle
was blowing hoarsely, and from time to time the sound of other whistles
came to us from out of the fog.

"That's a ferry-boat of some sort," the new-comer said, indicating a
whistle off to the right. "And there! D'ye hear that? Blown by mouth.
Some scow schooner, most likely. Better watch out, Mr. Schooner-man.
Ah, I thought so. Now hell's a poppin' for somebody!"

The unseen ferry-boat was blowing blast after blast, and the mouth-blown
horn was tooting in terror-stricken fashion.

"And now they're payin' their respects to each other and tryin' to get
clear," the red-faced man went on, as the hurried whistling ceased.

His face was shining, his eyes flashing with excitement as he translated
into articulate language the speech of the horns and sirens. "That's a
steam-siren a-goin' it over there to the left. And you hear that fellow
with a frog in his throat--a steam schooner as near as I can judge,
crawlin' in from the Heads against the tide."

A shrill little whistle, piping as if gone mad, came from directly ahead
and from very near at hand. Gongs sounded on the _Martinez_. Our
paddle-wheels stopped, their pulsing beat died away, and then they
started again. The shrill little whistle, like the chirping of a cricket
amid the cries of great beasts, shot through the fog from more to the
side and swiftly grew faint and fainter. I looked to my companion for
enlightenment.

"One of them dare-devil launches," he said. "I almost wish we'd sunk
him, the little rip! They're the cause of more trouble. And what good
are they? Any jackass gets aboard one and runs it from hell to
breakfast, blowin' his whistle to beat the band and tellin' the rest of
the world to look out for him, because he's comin' and can't look out for
himself! Bec