out
plainly, a different essence, a higher spirit, the embodiment of mind
and will.

"And how was it with Wilbur, off there in the lead? He, too, walked
stiffly, wrapped in thought. Once he turned, as if to come back and
speak to us; then whirled with a violent movement of decision and
plunged on into the rain. He knew, now, what it was all about, if not
what to expect. He knew that his crime had been discovered. Yet he had
made no break; in no particular had he given himself away. What had he
decided? What had he been about to say? Would he confess, when he faced
death on the water; or would he be confident enough to believe that he
could beat the game?

"Observing his broad back, his commanding figure, that looked thoroughly
at home in its oilskin coat and leaning against the storm, it came to me
that he would put up a desperate defense before he succumbed. He, too,
was a strong man, and no part of a coward; he, too, in a different way,
was a superior being, the embodiment of mind and will.

"Then, for a moment, my own spirit went slump with the realization of
what lay before us, and a great weakness overcame me. I edged again
toward Lee Fu.

"'My God, what if the man really is innocent?' I cried. 'He hasn't
turned a hair.'

"Lee Fu gave me a flash of the moon face beneath the sou'wester, 'Have
no fear, my friend,' he reassured me. 'I am completely satisfied, in
regions where the soul dwells.'

"When we reached the sampan, lying under a weather shore beneath the
bulkhead, we found a scene of consternation. Lee Fu's orders had
arrived, and had been executed; yet the men couldn't believe that he
actually meant to sail. Gathered in a panic-stricken group on the fore
deck of the sampan, they chattered like a flock of magpies; as they
caught sight of us, they swarmed across the bulkhead and fell at Lee
Fu's feet, begging for mercy.

"'Up, dogs!' he cried. 'There is no danger. I shall steer, and it is
necessary that we go. If any would remain, let them depart now, with no
tale to tell. Let those who stay prepare at once for sea.'

"I found Wilbur beside me. 'What's this madness, Nichols?' he demanded
for the third and last time.

"'I know no more about it than you do,' I answered shortly. 'He has told
his crew to prepare for sea. If he goes, we all go.'

"A moment later we stood on the quarter-deck of the cruising sampan. Lee
Fu took his station at the great tiller. The wind lulled, as the trough
of a squall p