All the Brothers Were Valiant

Excerpt: ...whites, and three black men forward, who were of no account. And the other two women. These other two were chattering together, on the deck astern, when I appeared. They seemed content enough. “The men were not happy. There was a 101 large man with slanting eyes. There was Oriental blood in him. You could see that. He called himself Quint. But his eyes were Jap, or Chinese; and he had their calm, blank screen across his countenance, to hide what may have been his thoughts. Quint, he called himself. And he was a big man, and very much of a man in his own way, Joel. “The other was little, and he walked with a slink and a grin. His name was Fetcher. And he was oily in his speech. “When they saw me, they studied me for a considerable time without speech. And I stood there, with the rifle in my arm, and laughed at them. And at last, Quint said calmly: “‘You took Farrell.’ “‘The fat man?’ I asked him. He nodded. ‘Yes,’ I said. ‘He took my girl, and so I dropped him into the water, and a friend met him there and hurried him away.’ 102 “‘Your girl?’ he echoed, in a nasty way. ‘You’re that, then?’ “‘Am I?’ I asked, and shifted the rifle a thought to the fore. And his eyes held mine for a space, and then he shook his head. “‘I see that I was mistaken,’ he said. “‘Your sight is good,’ I told him. ‘Now-what is this? Tell me.’ “He told me, evenly and without malice. They had a line on the pearls; there were enough for three. I was welcome. And at the end, I nodded my consent. The Nathan Ross was gone. Furthermore, there were nine pagans in me now; and the prospect of looting some still lagoon, in company with these two rats, had a wild flavor about it that caught me. My blood was burning; and the sun was hot. Also, they had liquor aboard her. Liquor, and loot, and the...