rected him
to sort and clear of rust the salvaged chain cable. He refused flatly.
I took a step toward him. He drew his knife and backed away.

"Perdosa," said I firmly, "put up that knife."

"No," said he.

I pulled the saw-barrelled Colt's 45 and raised it slowly to a level
with his breast.

"Perdosa," I repeated, "drop that knife."

The crisis had come, but my resolution was fully prepared for it. I
should not have cared greatly if I had had to shoot the man--as I
certainly should have done had he disobeyed. There would then have
been one less to deal with in the final accounting, which strangely
enough I now for a moment never doubted would come. I had not before
aimed at a man's life, so you can see to what tensity the baffling
mystery had strung me.

Perdosa hesitated a fraction of an instant. I really think he might
have chanced it, but Handy Solomon, who had been watching me closely,
growled at him.

"Drop it, you fool!" he said.

Perdosa let fall the knife.

"Now, get at that cable," I commanded, still at white heat. I stood
over him until he was well at work, then turned back to set tasks for
the other men. Handy Solomon met me halfway.

"Begging your pardon, Mr. Eagen," said he, "I want a word with you."

"I have nothing to say to you," I snapped, still excited.

"It ain't reasonable not to hear a man's say," he advised in his most
conciliatory manner, "I'm talking for all of us."

He paused a moment, took my silence for consent, and went ahead.

"Begging your pardon, Mr. Eagen," said he, "we ain't going to do any
more useless work. There ain't no laziness about us, but we ain't
going to be busy at nothing. All the camp work and the haulin' and
cuttin' and cleanin' and the rest of it, we'll do gladly. But we ain't
goin' to pound any more cable, and you can kiss the Book on that."

"You mean to mutiny?" I asked.

He made a deprecatory gesture.

"Put us aboard ship, sir, and let us hear the Old Man give his orders,
and you'll find no mutiny in us. But here ashore it's different. Did
the Old Man give orders to pound the cable?"

"I represent the captain," I stammered.

He caught the evasion. "I thought so. Well, if you got any kick on
us, please, sir, go get the Old Man. If he says to our face, pound
cable, why pound cable it is. Ain't that right, boys?"

They murmured something. Perdosa deliberately dropped his hammer and
joined the group. My hand strayed again toward the sawed-off C