I found myself on my knees feeling ill.
“That’s three down,” said Wilson.
He was at the rail, pulling the stern sea-ladder up on deck. Vaguely I realized then that Wilson, too, had heard Brack leave the ship. Afterward I learned that he had attacked his guards at the sound of my first shot, which he had thought to come from Dr. Olson’s revolver as a signal for the revolt. In that way only had it been possible for him to reach me in time to save my life.
The negro and Garvin were fighting near us, with a stamping and roaring as of two great animals locked in battle. Like the hissing of an over-driven pump came the negro’s:
“Got you now; got you now, bad man.”
Garvin in turn panted.
“You —— nigger! You —— nigger!”
They whirled from the darkness into the shaft of light from a port-hole. The negro struck with some weapon; the thick glass crashed in splinters. They whirled on, into the dark again.
“Swing him around, Sam, and I’ll club him for you,” said Wilson quietly, hobbling after them.
“Don’ touch ’im!” pleaded the negro. “’Foh Gawd! Don’ nobody touch ’im. He’s mah meat.”