Francis Lynde

“ It is a well-worn nautical maxim that a stern chase is a long chase. After an hour or more, during which time a choppy sea had risen to make the schooner thrash and pound and her masts to bend like whipstocks, Brill shouted to me that the topsails had to come off or we'd have the sticks out of her. Accordingly Pedro and Jose manned the downhauls and the dangerous canvas was taken in. ”

“ My experience as a boss in various construction camps remote from civilization had given me some knowledge of rough-and-ready surgery so I proceeded to set the bones as well as I could, whittling splints of kindling wood from the galley with Dorgan's own clasp knife and cutting up a piece of sailcloth for bandages. For the scalp wound I could do nothing better than to wash it with sea water; since Brill at my questioning said that the schooner carried no medicine chest, not even a bottle of iodine. ”

“ There was neither rhyme nor reason in such a determination but I was in no frame of mind to listen to reason.
“You, and Dorgan too, if he ever comes to his senses again, are due to be mighty sorry that you took a stranger's money to shanghai another stranger,” I said to Brill. “We are going to overtake that yacht before we quit if we have to chase her to Panama and back. That's what you've let yourselves in for, if you care to know.”
“But, lookee here!” he babbled; “we ain't 'found' for no such v'yage as that! There ain't scoffin's enough in the galley to feed us a week!” ”

“ I suppose it would have been only humane to have attended to the enemy's hurts before doing anything else; but Brill was still hammering at the companion slide and it seemed the part of prudence to bring the little war to a definite conclusion without any more loss of time. The Waikiki was gradually increasing her lead and if we were to overtake her, Brill, who was now the only man aboard of us who knew what the schooner could be made to do, must be persuaded to take his trick at the wheel. ”

“ Before I knew what he was about he had fallen on his marrow bones and was begging like a dog. Life, life upon any terms was all he craved and his ravings were so mixed up with bubbling oaths as to be almost farcial. ”

“ Going on deck again I took another look at the yacht with the glass. Though, to my landsman's eye, the added topsails had increased our speed fully one half, the relative positions of the two vessels seemed unchanged. As nearly as I could judge we hadn't gained a foot in the race; this, too, with the wind coming still fresher than be fore out of the northeast. Turning upon Brill I asked him if he didn't have some more canvas that he could put upon the schooner.
“More sail?” he gurgled. “Wot in 'ell's the matter with you? She's got every stitch she can stagger under right now! ”

“ Without being in any enthusiastic sense a sport fan in college I had been sufficiently interested in athletics to go in moderately for wrestling and boxing and in my senior year the college had been blessed with an under coach who knew ring fighting from the bottom up and was willing to impart his knowledge to any of the men who cared to stand up to him on the chalked canvas. ”

“ As soon as the Minorcans were free to help me, we three got Dorgan down into the cabin and spread him out in one of the bunks; not however until I had first made sure of Israel Brill by anchoring him to the wheel standard with a lashing of ropeyarn around his legs. Having disposed of Dorgan, I left Brill tied while I took an inventory of the capture, overhauling the galley stores to see what we had in the way of provisions and sounding the gasoline tank to find out how we were supplied in the matter of engine fuel. In both respects the schooner was fairly well found. ”

“ I said. “You forget that these men are no longer your serfs; they're your masters.” Then to the two Minorcans: “Do what he tells you to but kick him if he swears at you.”
While the two sailors were setting the topsails I slit the sleeve on Dorgan's broken arm and examined the fracture, keeping an eye on Brill meanwhile and also keeping one of the captured pistols within easy reach. ”