of the waves, flooding into
the inlet.

Peggy Simms fled down the trail with a steel drill in either hand,
straight across the beach toward Lund. The Finn turned on her with a
snarl and a side-swipe of his knife, but she leaped aside, dodged the
other slow-foot, and thrust a drill at Lund, who grasped it with a cry
of exultation, swinging it over his head as if it had been a bamboo.
Hansen had shaken off his men, and came leaping in for the second drill.

The knife fell tinkling on the frozen rock as Lund smashed the wrist of
the Finn. The girl's gun made the second would-be stabber throw up his
hands while Hansen snatched his weapon, flung it over the farther cliff,
and knocked the seaman to the ground before he joined Lund, charging the
rest, who fled before the sight of them and the threat of the bars of
steel.

Lund laughed loud, and stopped striking, using the drill as a goad,
driving them into a huddled horde, like leaderless sheep, knee-deep,
thigh-deep, into the water, where they stopped and begged for mercy
while Hansen turned to put a finish to the separate struggles.

It ended as swiftly as it had begun. One hunter could barely stand for
his kicked knee, Rainey's back was strained and stiffening, Lund had
lost a handful of his beard, and Hansen's cheek was laid open.

On the other side the casualties were more severe. Deming was drowned,
his body flung up by the tide, rolling in the swash. Beale was coughing
blood, though not dangerously wounded. The Finn was crying over his
broken wrist, all the fight out of him. Ribs were sore where not
splintered from the drills, and the two bumped by Lund sat up with
sorely aching heads. The courage inspired by the liquor was all gone;
oozed, beaten out of them. They were cowed, demoralized, whipped.

Lund took swift inventory, lining them up as they came timorously out of
the water or straggled against the cliff at his order. Tamada had come
down from the fires. Peggy had told of his share, and Sandy's timely
shout. Lund nodded at him in a friendly manner.

"You're a white man, Tamada," he said. "You, too, Sandy. I'll not forget
it. Rainey, round up these derelicts an' help Tamada fix 'em up. I'll
settle with 'em later. Hansen, put the rest of 'em to work, an' keep 'em
to it! Do you hear? They got to do the work of the whole bunch."

They went willingly enough, limping, nursing their bruises, while
Hansen, his stolidity momentarily vanished in the rush of the fi