h!' he shouted. 'You've already lost Pootoy. If you
can't haul up and make the lee of the Lema Islands--'

"'I intend to pass nowhere near them,' answered Lee Fu, keeping his eyes
on the yawning bow of the sampan.

"'There's nothing to the eastward--no shelter.'

"'Of that I am aware.'

"'Do you know what that means?' Wilbur pointed above the stern rail into
the face of the storm.

"'I think we will get the center, Captain, by tomorrow noon.'

"Wilbur made a move as if to grasp the tiller. 'Haul up, you fool!'

"A stray gleam in the gathering darkness caught the barrel of the
revolver, as Lee Fu steered for a moment with one hand.

"'Beware, Captain! You are the fool; would you broach us to, and end it
now? One thing alone will send me to seek the last shelter; and for that
thing I think you are not ready.'

"'What?'

"'To say that you sunk the "Speedwell."'

"Wilbur gathered his strength as if to strike; his face was distorted
with passion.

"'You lie, you yellow hound!'

"'Exactly--Captain, be careful--come no nearer! Also, leave me alone. If
you value your life, you will keep silence and stay a little forward.
Go, quickly! Here I could shoot you with the greatest impunity.'"

Nichols paused. "Maybe some of you fellows haven't seen Lee Fu's
cruising sampan," he remarked. "In reality, she's more of a junk than a
sampan, a sizable craft of over a hundred tons, and the best product of
the Chinese shipyard. Lee Fu had her built for trips along the coast,
and many of his own ideas, born of an expert knowledge of ships of every
nationality entered into her construction. The result is distinctly a
Chinese creation, a craft that seems to reflect his personality, that
responds to his touch and works with him. She's higher in the bows than
an ordinary junk, and lower in the stern; a broad, shallow hull that
needs a centerboard on the wind. Of course she's completely decked over
for heavy weather. In charge of any of us, perhaps, she would be
unmanageable; but in his hands, I can assure you, she's a sea boat of
remarkable attainments.

"I had seen him handle her under difficult conditions, but never in such
a pass as this. How he did it was inconceivable to me. The last I saw of
him that night he had called two men to help him at the tiller; and, so
far, he had kept the craft before the wind.

"For many hours I was surrounded by pitch blackness and the storm. I
clung to a single stanchion, hardly changing my