Siwash Mike loosed an oath. The mountain of a man started as if stung. His mouth twisted in an ugly snarl. He made a step towards Clement. His right hand jerked to his pocket. The effect on Gunning was startling. That chance shot had exploded a definite fact in his mind.
“Motor boat,” he shouted. “That’s why you wouldn’t let me help.—Mending a perfectly sound motor boat. You liar! You—you Nachbar!”
He jumped forward and faced the big man.
“Out of the way, you dog. Out of the way!” snarled Nachbar, with a twisted mouth. His hand had flashed out of his pocket, and in it was a pistol. “Out of the way, you sot!”
Gunning flung himself upon him.
There was chaos in that flimsy shack.
At the first hint of violence Clement had dropped flat to the ground. The woman’s pistol snapped as he did so, and her bullet struck the planking where his chest had been. Nachbar and Gunning staggered in a wild tangle. The shoulders of the huge man struck Siwash as, pistol ready, he jumped round to get at Clement. He was flung back. Even as he swayed under the impact, the little detective Gatineau, prone and overlooked on the floor, suddenly came to life. He became abruptly conscious. His arms went out and plucked at the half-breed’s ankles. Siwash went down with a bang. As he went down, Gatineau heaved himself up and forward with an astonishing strength and flung himself on the fallen man. Siwash screamed as Gatineau twisted his wounded arm, and his pistol clattered to the ground. Gatineau snatched at that pistol, and got it.
Gunning and the mountain of a man went in a long, wild stagger, across the shack. The table crashed as their writhing bodies smashed into it. They tripped and thudded into the wall. They stamped and wrestled clear, went in a writhe across the floor again. The woman failed to get out of the way. The fighting bodies struck her and she was knocked across the room. Then Gunning screamed. A huge, fat thumb was pressing, pressing with monstrous power, up under his jaw-bone beneath his ear. He screamed and wriggled to break away. Nachbar with his incredible mobility slipped clear. In the same movement his pistol flickered towards Gunning’s chest. A report and a scream sounded together, and Gunning tumbled forward into the arms of the man who had shot him.
With his immense strength Nachbar flung the limp man from him and swept round to deal with Clement. Clement was ready. As the huge body bunched and the pistol hand jerked forward, Clement struck at it. As Clement had risen to his feet, he had grabbed the chair again, and that was what he struck with. The solid wood of the seat caught Nachbar’s wrist and arm, and with such force that the pistol was sent flying across the room. Nachbar bellowed and leaped to finish the young Englishman with his great hands. Clement dropped the chair in front of him.
His shins caught the flimsy structure as his huge body stumbled forward, and at the same time Clement landed with all his force on the big face. He struck again on the mouth, and then in the excitement strove to swing to the swaying chin with his injured right. He reached his mark, but the pain that shot through his arm was so exquisite that it both robbed the blow of its power and caused Clement to writhe. In that moment of suspension Nachbar, shaking himself like some giant beast that had been stung to rage by an insect, leaped on Clement.