"'Up dogs!' he cried 'There is no danger. I shall steer; and it is necessary that we go. If any would remain, let them depart now, with no tale to tell. Let those who stay prepare at once for sea'
"Not a man made a move to go; the presence and voice of the master had reassured them. Without another word, they rose and filed on board.
"I found Wilbur beside me. 'What is this madness, Nichols?' he demanded for the last time 'Are you fool enough to go on the water in that craft? What has that lunatic been saying to the men?—I don't understand their damned lingo'
"'He told his crew to prepare for sea' I answered shortly 'If he goes, we all go. He says there is no danger'
"'Huh! You're a bigger fool than I took you for'
"A moment later we stood together on the quarter-deck of the cruising sampan. Lee Fu took his station at the great tiller, that archaic steering arrangement worked by blocks and tackles which the Chinese cherish like the precepts of Confucius in the face of mechanical invention. The wind lulled for a moment, as the trough of a squall passed over. Lee Fu gave a few sharp orders. Moorings were cast off, a pinch of sail was lifted forward. The big craft found her freedom with a lurch and a stagger; then pulled herself together and left the land with a steady rush, skimming dead before the wind across the smooth weather reach of the harbour, and quickly losing herself in the murk and spray that hung off Gowloon Point. If we were sighted from the fleet, which is extremely doubtful, we were put down as a junk that had broken adrift. Somehow Lee Fu managed to avoid the ships at anchor off Wanchi. Straight down the length of the bay he struck; in an incredibly short time we had left the harbour behind, and were whirling through the narrow gut of Lymoon Pass before a terrific squall, bound for the open sea.
"I watched Captain Wilbur. He stood in a careless attitude at the rail in our race down the harbour, scanning the boat and the water with an air of confidence and unconcern. A slight sneer curled his lip; he had made up his mind to see the nonsense through. The sailor in him had quickly recognized that the craft would stand the weather, so long as she remained in quiet water. Probably he expected every minute that Lee Fu would change his tactics and put into some sheltered cove.... But when we shot through Lymoon Pass, I saw him turn and scrutinize the Chinaman closely. Darkness was falling behind the murk, the real night now; ahead of us lay a widening reach among the islands, that opened abruptly on the main body of the China Sea. We were rapidly leaving the protection of Victoria Island. Soon we should be unable to see our way. Ten miles outside a high sea was running. And with every blast of wind that held in the same quarter, the centre of the typhoon was bearing down on us with unerring aim.
"These facts were as patent to Wilbur as to any of us. It was his knowledge, of course, that finally was his undoing; had he been less of a sailor, or had he been entirely ignorant of the sea, he could have resigned himself to the situation, on the assumption that those who were sailing the craft wouldn't put themselves in actual danger. Perhaps Lee Fu had realized this when he'd chosen the sea as the medium of justice; perhaps he had glimpsed the profound and subtle truth that Wilbur couldn't properly be broken save in his native environment. He knew the sea, he had trifled with it; then let him face the sea.
"The time came, just before we lost the loom of the land, when Wilbur could stand it no longer; as a sailor, used to responsibility and authority, he had to speak his mind. He knew that the situation was growing very dangerous.... For my part, I had become convinced by now that it was irretrievable; it began to look as if we'd burned our last bridge behind us. I didn't pretend to understand; Lee Fu seemed reckless beyond measure, he had apparently given away his cards without trying to play them. One thing was certain—if some way couldn't be found to hold up this mad race immediately, we should be forced in the next five minutes to run the gauntlet of the typhoon in open water.
"Wilbur dropped aft beside Lee Fu, and made a funnel of his hands.