"Now, don't you try any games with me," said Schumer, who had lighted his cigarette. "I know all about the affair, and I am going to see justice done. Your captain was killed, the mates were killed, and the other white man was done away with and hove overboard. I take it he was not a trader, but a labor recruiter. Don't open your mouth to lie, or I'll put a bullet in it!"
He put his hand in his pocket and drew out a revolver, which he placed on his thigh.
"You just hear me through, for I am going to tell you things. To begin with, I doubt if you had any hand in the killing. I judge you by your face. Had you any hand in it? You may speak."
The man's lips were dry; his tongue could scarcely form the words:
"No, sah, it was not me."
"It was some of those Solomon Islanders?"
"Yes, sah."
"Which was the one that did it? There's always one that takes the lead."
Joe was silent.
"Which was the one that did it?" asked Schumer again, without the least change in his voice, but with his hand now on the butt of the revolver.