"But I promised him his life," said Martin. "And—my God, Bosun, hasn't there been enough death on this ship?"
"Well, anyway, that feller, Ichi, is lucky 'e wasn't on board when we 'ad the grand fight," vowed the Bosun. "I was looking for 'im; I 'ad 'im marked for my meat. Swiggle me, 'e'd 'ave gone over the side if I got my 'ands on 'im that mornin'. Aye, and Yip was layin' for 'im, too."
"How Yip hated them," mused Martin.
"Aye, that 'e did," agreed the bosun. "But 'e was a slick one, was Yip. 'Oo but 'im would of thought o' dopin' their grub? And the 'olesale way 'e did it—mixin' a pint bottle o' cockroach killer in with their rice. A white man wouldn't 'ave been able to do that. But it give Yip his chance, when they got the bellyache, to skip for'ard and lay out the 'atch guard with his cleaver. My blinkin' heye, when I come up after 'e opened the 'atch, there 'e was with that Jap's neck across the 'atch combin', and 'e was 'ackin' away and yellin' like a wild Indian. Aye, and 'e'd 'ave 'acked some more o' them, if that shot that was aimed at me 'adn't took 'im through the 'ead. Swiggle me, Marty, I wouldn't 'ave been able to eat 'is grub after that."
"Nor I," agreed Martin. "Well, Bos, I think I'll take a turn below."
"Aye, I 'eard the lass' voice through the skylight, a moment since," observed the bosun, slyly. "Swiggle me—get along with ye, lad!" He gave Martin a gentle nudge with his giant's elbow that nearly knocked him down the hatch.
She was in the cabin, when Martin descended the stairs. She welcomed him with a glance that more than repaid him for the bosun's thump; aye, that repaid him (he would have sworn) for all the pain and misery he had ever suffered.
She was standing by her grandfather's side, and the latter was seated at the cabin table, a mess of papers before him.
"Well, my boy, I've just been figuring out our fortune," he hailed Martin. "It's plenty; more than plenty. Something not much short of a million, as prices for ambergris were quoted when we left San Francisco. Not such a bad little treasure, eh?"
"We have paid a stiff price for it," answered Martin, soberly.