hough these men sailed no Spanish Main and
flew no black flag, the iron-hand government was needed. He saw also
that the rough-and-ready courtesy of this crowd toward their passengers
was due largely to the attitude of Captain McKay, who had enforced their
respect at the start by his soldierly bearing and retained it ever since
by his military management.

For the captain, experienced in directing men, conducted himself at all
times as a commanding officer should: he saw all, said little, treated
Jose as a subordinate officer, and left the handling of the crew
entirely to him. His aloofness forestalled any of that familiarity
which, with such a gang, would have led to contempt. On the other hand,
his avoidance of any assumption of meddlesome authority prevented the
irritation and dislike which free men inevitably feel for the
self-important type of leader. Thus he cannily steered himself and his
mates between the two rocks which might have wrecked the expedition
before it was well started. And Knowlton, ex-lieutenant, and Tim,
ex-sergeant, seeing and understanding, followed his example.

So the days and nights rolled by, the miles of never-ending jungle shore
fell away behind, and, save for the occasional outbreaks between members
of the crew, all was serene. To all appearances the Peruvians were
whole-heartedly interested in serving their employers faithfully, and
the North Americans were gliding onward with no thought of insecurity.
Yet appearances frequently are deceptive.

In the heat of the day--in fact, before the broiling sun neared the
zenith--Tim and Knowlton habitually fell asleep inside the _toldo_, not
to awake until two hours before sunset, when, according to the routine
agreed upon, the night's camping place would be sought and two or three
of the Peruvians would go into the bush with rifles, seeking fresh meat.
McKay never slept during the day's traverse. Nothing escaped his eye
from the time when he emerged from his mosquito net in the misty morning
until he entered it again by firelight. The men in the boat; the
floating alligators and wading birds of the water; the flashing parrots,
jacamars, toucans, trogons, and hummers of the air; the yard-long
lizards and nervous spider monkeys of the tangled tree branches
alongshore--all these he watched quietly as the boat forged on. And the
sinister Francisco, watching him in turn, and the paddlers throwing
occasional glances his way, came to regard him as the