Yet, Buckrow was in a quandary and, in spite of his fear of Thirkle, seemed inclined to free him, evidently finding it hard to make his own decisions, and preferring to have some one to give the orders.  He tossed his cigar away, and stood watching Thirkle chewing a blade of grass.

“Ye can deal with me, mates, but ye’ll find ye can’t argue with the judge,” went on Thirkle in a quiet tone, keeping his eyes on the ground.  “Ye’ll find ye can’t talk the turnkey into liberty, and it will be too late the morning the hangman opens the door and says ‘Come!’ and—­”

“Stow that gab, or I’ll let a knife into yer hide!” snarled Buckrow, and he went over to the pile of sacks and began kicking the brown canvas nervously.

Thirkle began to chuckle quietly, swaying his shoulders from side to side in his simulated hilarity.  Petrak, who was standing close to him, looked at him in surprise.

“It will be a fine joke,” said Thirkle in a low tone, as if speaking to himself.  “They do love to hang a red-headed man!  Poor Petrak!  They’ll have a great joke with him—­Oh, ye there, Petrak, my lad!  Well, I’m sorry for ye; but ye can’t blame me if Bucky gets ye in a jam.  He says he can go it alone now, and doesn’t need Thirkle; but wait until the death-watch is pacing outside the door like a Swedish skipper, and ye’ve only got an hour left on earth, and then ye’ll wish ye’d stuck to Thirkle.

“I’ll bet all this gold here ye’ll wish ye had Thirkle then, but Thirkle won’t be there to help.  I say stick to Bucky if ye like, but ye’ll find he ain’t Thirkle.  Good-bye, Reddy.  I never looked for ye to come to this; but I can say ye’ll hang if you go it with Bucky.”

“I didn’t do it, Thirkle; I didn’t put ye where ye be,” whimpered Petrak.  “I’m for cuttin’ ye loose, but Bucky ain’t.”

“He’s mad at me, and I can’t argue with him, but if ye say a word or two he’ll mind ye; and remember, Petrak, if ye can’t make him see it right, ye’ll hang—­the two of ye—­and ye know Thirkle always has it as it is.”

Thirkle whispered something to Petrak which I did not catch, and then the little rascal went over to Buckrow and began to talk with him quietly, and finally began to plead for Thirkle.

“Ye’re afraid of him,” sneered Buckrow.  “Ye’re afraid of Thirkle with reef-knots on his hands, and ye’ll be afraid of him when he’s dead, ye coward!”

“I ain’t afraid of him, Bucky, but he says we’ll hang; and so we will if we don’t let him have a hand gettin’ this gold clear away.”

“He’ll do for us; and then what good will the gold be to us?  Reddy, ye know the devil as I do; jind now he’s got this pile he’ll settle us when he sees his way to it.”

“Let him go, Bucky; let him go.  The night’ll be on us in an hour or so, and then what’ll we do?  Leave it to Thirkle and it’ll come out all right; and I know it and you know it, Bucky.  There’s the two of us to him, and we’ll make him play it fair now.”