ou are," I ordered, "till I do some talking.--Chantz! Make
no mistake. Rhine is boss for'ard. You take his orders . . . until we
get into Valparaiso; then you'll take your chances along with him in
jail. In the meantime, what Rhine says goes. Get that, and get it
straight. I am behind Rhine until the police come on board.--Bombini! do
whatever Rhine tells you. I'll shoot the man who tries to stop
you.--Deacon! Stand away from Chantz. Go over to the fife-rail."

All hands knew the stream of lead my automatic rifle could throw, and
Arthur Deacon knew it. He hesitated barely a moment, then obeyed.

"Fitzgibbon!--Giller!--Hackey!" I called in turn, and was obeyed. "Fay!"
I called twice, ere the response came.

Isaac Chantz stood alone, and Bombini now showed eagerness.

"Chantz!" I said; "don't you think it would be healthier to go over to
the fife-rail and be good?"

He debated the matter not many seconds, resheathed his knife, and
complied.

The tang of power! I was minded to let literature get the better of me
and read the rascals a lecture; but thank heaven I had sufficient
proportion and balance to refrain.

"Rhine!" I said.

He turned his corroded face up to me and blinked in an effort to see.

"As long as Chantz takes your orders, leave him alone. We'll need every
hand to work the ship in. As for yourself, send Murphy aft in half an
hour and I'll give him the best the medicine-chest affords. That is all.
Go for'ard."

And they shambled away, beaten and dispirited.

"But that man--his face--what happened to him?" Margaret asked of me.

Sad it is to end love with lies. Sadder still is it to begin love with
lies. I had tried to hide this one happening from Margaret, and I had
failed. It could no longer be hidden save by lying; and so I told her
the truth, told her how and why the gangster had had his face dashed with
sulphuric acid by the old steward who knew white men and their ways.

* * * * *

There is little more to write. The mutiny of the _Elsinore_ is over. The
divided crew is ruled by the gangsters, who are as intent on getting
their leader into port as I am intent on getting all of them into jail.
The first lap of the voyage of the _Elsinore_ draws to a close. Two
days, at most, with our present sailing, will bring us into Valparaiso.
And then, as beginning a new voyage, the _Elsinore_ will depart for
Seattle.

* * * * *

One thing more remains for me to write, and then