aid Trask. "Could have told you in fifteen minutes,
if you hadn't wanted to cheat Dinshaw out of it."

"We wouldn't a-come if we'd knowed this was a sell," said Peth.

"Weren't you paid to come?"

"He ain't got no gun," yelled Doc. "The island is full o' gold,
cap'n. Yo' got to cook it an'----"

Trask turned to see the steward waving his hands at the rail, and
ran toward him in rage, telling him to be still.

"Don' you lay han's on me!" yelled Doc, backing away to where
Shanghai Tom stood. Behind the pair was Marjorie.

"So you're in with 'em, eh?" sneered Trask.

"I'm in fo' mahse'f!" declared Doc, lowering his head and regarding
Trask from under his brows. He put his hand in his pocket. "Keep
away, w'ite man, or I'll do yo'all hurt!"

Trask walked straight for the steward, who pulled out a pistol.

"My gun!" cried Trask, stopping. Marjorie uttered a cry of dismay
as she saw the steward raise his hand.

"I can shoot," warned Doc. "Come on! Come on!" he yelled, waving
his hand to the dinghy. "I got 'em!"

Trask heard the splash of oars, and saw out of the corner of his
eye that the boat was coming ahead swiftly. He was about to hurl
himself at the steward when he saw Shanghai Tom reach over Doc's
shoulder and grasp the weapon. Doc turned to resist the cook, but
Tom bent him sidewise, wrenched the pistol from his hand so that it
fell to the deck, and lifted Doc against the bulwark. Then catching
the steward's legs, he threw him over, head first, into the sea.

"Good for you!" shouted Trask, and leaping forward, grabbed up his
revolver and aimed it at the boat. "Stop!" he shouted. "Stop this
minute or I'll fire!"

The rowers looked over their shoulders, and seeing that Trask had
them covered, backed water furiously despite the shouts of Peth to
go on.

Doc came up blowing, and began to swim toward the dinghy without
further ado. Jarrow now yelled to the rowers to keep backing, and
when Peth roared at him to "shut his head," the captain, taking
advantage of the confusion, stood up and leaped into the water and
began swimming to the schooner quite as fast as Doc swam away from
it.

"Let me aboard!" cried Jarrow.

"All right," said Trask. "Come on!" and he came, with an awkward,
splashing, overhand stroke, like some queer fish with one curved
fin out of the water.

The rowers stopped backing and watched the two swimmers, as if not
sure just what to do. Peth seemed inclined to wait and see how
things t