at
me, I remembered with a shiver the close shave I had had with him at
the time of his previous arrest.

His crew sullenly tailed on to the halyards, and the strange,
outlandish sail, lateen in rig and dyed a warm brown, rose in the air.
We were sailing on the wind, and when Yellow Handkerchief flattened
down the sheet the junk forged ahead and the tow-line went slack. Fast
as the _Reindeer_ could sail, the junk outsailed her; and to avoid
running her down I hauled a little closer on the wind. But the junk
likewise outpointed, and in a couple of minutes I was abreast of the
_Reindeer_ and to windward. The tow-line had now tautened, at right
angles to the two boats and the predicament was laughable.

"Cast off!" I shouted.

Charley hesitated.

"It's all right," I added. "Nothing can happen. We'll make the creek on
this tack, and you'll be right behind me all the way up to San
Rafael."

At this Charley cast off, and Yellow Handkerchief sent one of his men
forward to haul in the line. In the gathering darkness I could just
make out the mouth of San Rafael Creek, and by the time we entered it
I could barely see its banks. The _Reindeer_ was fully five minutes
astern, and we continued to leave her astern as we beat up the narrow,
winding channel. With Charley behind us, it seemed I had little to
fear from my five prisoners; but the darkness prevented my keeping a
sharp eye on them, so I transferred my revolver from my trousers
pocket to the side pocket of my coat, where I could more quickly put
my hand on it.

Yellow Handkerchief was the one I feared, and that he knew it and made
use of it, subsequent events will show. He was sitting a few feet away
from me, on what then happened to be the weather side of the junk. I
could scarcely see the outlines of his form, but I soon became
convinced that he was slowly, very slowly, edging closer to me. I
watched him carefully. Steering with my left hand, I slipped my right
into my pocket and got hold of the revolver.

I saw him shift along for a couple of inches, and I was just about to
order him back--the words were trembling on the tip of my tongue--when
I was struck with great force by a heavy figure that had leaped
through the air upon me from the lee side. It was one of the crew. He
pinioned my right arm so that I could not withdraw my hand from my
pocket, and at the same time clapped his other hand over my mouth. Of
course, I could have struggled away from him and free