the strength to check
Antonio's hand when he raised it to stab Rolleston:

"No, please don't. . . . Simon, you agree, don't you. We haven't the
right. . . ."

Antonio protested:

"You're wrong, Miss. A monster like that has to be got rid of."

"Please! . . ."

"As you will. But I shall get him again. We have an account to settle,
he and I. M. Dubosc, lend me a hand to tie him up!"

The Indian lost no time. Knowing the ruse which Simon had employed to
remove the guards, he expected them to return at any moment, no doubt
escorted by their comrades. He therefore shoved Rolleston to the other
end of the corridor and bundled him into a dark cupboard.

"Like that," he said, "his accomplices won't find their chief and will
look for him outside."

He also bound and locked up the big woman, who was beginning to
recover from her torpor. Then, despite the exhausted condition of Lord
Bakefield and his daughter, he led them to the companion.

Simon had to carry Isabel. When he reached the deck of the _Ville de
Dunkerque_, he was astounded to hear the rattling sounds and to see
the great sheaf of pebbles and water spurting towards the sky. By a
lucky coincidence, the phenomenon had occurred just as he announced it
and caused an excitement by which he had time to profit. Isabel and
Lord Bakefield were laid under the tarpaulin, that part of the wreck
being deserted. Then Antonio and Simon went to the companion in quest
of news. A band of ruffians came pouring down it, shouting:

"The chief! Where's Rolleston?"

Several of them questioned Antonio, who pretended to be equally at a
loss:

"Rolleston? I've been hunting for him everywhere. I expect he's at the
barricades."

The ruffians streamed back again, scampering up on deck. At the foot
of the platform they held a conference, after which some ran towards
the enclosing fence, while others, following Rolleston's example,
shouted:

"Every man to his post! No quarter! Shoot, can't you, down there?"

"What's happening?" whispered Simon.

"They're wavering," said Antonio, "and giving way. Look beyond the
enclosure. The crowd is attacking at several points."

"But they're firing on it."

"Yes, but in disorder, at random. Rolleston's absence is already
making itself felt. He was a leader, he was. You should have seen him
organize his two or three hundred recruits in a few hours and place
each man where he was best suited! He didn't only rule by terror."

The eruption