e big bully then threw the remainder of the spirits, with a
splash, sheer into Jake's mouth.

"He boozed that time, boys. You bet your socks!" he laughed
uproariously. The others joined in the hilarity.

The Jake I looked upon after that was not the Jake I had known for the
past few months.

He sat staring in front of him for a little while, then he exclaimed
huskily, almost hungrily:

"Say, fellows! Give us some more. It tastes pretty good to me."

"Thought he would come to it," shouted the black-haired man
triumphantly. "We ain't refusin' no booze to-night. Fetch a cup o'
rye for Jake."

One of the others brought it, and it was held to the old man's lips.
He let it over his throat almost at a single gulp.

"More,--more!"

More was brought, and again he drank.

Three times Jake emptied that brimming cup of raw spirits.

I shivered with abhorrence at the sight.

"More?" queried the big man.

"Yep! More," craved Jake.

"Nothin' doin'! You've had enough, you old booze-fighter.

"Say! How's that top-notcher swell Bremner comin' on?"

He turned to me.

"Let's fill him up, too."

They came over to me, but I pretended still to be unconscious. My head
was limply bent over my chest.

They jerked it up by my forelock and looked into my face.

The foulness of their breath almost nauseated me, but I stood the test,
keeping my eyes tightly closed and allowing my head to flop forward the
moment it was released from their clutch.

"What in the hell did you hit him so hard for?" cried the leader,
turning savagely to the man at his left elbow. "We ain't lookin' for
any rope-collars over this. Guess we'd better beat it. Get busy with
that chest some of you. Come on!"

They raised their masks from their mouths and had another drink all
round, then two of them, under the big man's directions, caught up the
chest, and they all crowded out and down toward their boat.

The moment after they were gone I threw my weight and growing strength
away from the upright to which I was bound. It creaked and groaned. I
tried again, and still again. At the third attempt, the entire
fixtures fell on top of me to the floor.

I struggled clear of the debris, and the rest was easy. I slipped the
ropes from the wooden post and, in their now loosened condition, I
wriggled free.

I did not wait to do anything for Jake, nor yet to consider any plan of
operation. My blood was up and that was all I knew.

I pick