“Pals we be, Reddy, and never ye mind enough of what he says to put in yer eye.  We can split the gold ourselves and leave Mr. Thirkle here with this friend of ours.  Ye know I’ll play fair with ye, Red—­ye know that, don’t ye?”

“Sure,” said Petrak.  “Here’s my paw on it, Bucky, and good luck to us and long life and merry times.  That’s a heap of gold for two, Bucky.”

“Shake for a square show,” said Buckrow, and the two villains shook hands across my body.  I had closed my eyes again, but peeped through partly opened lids as often as I dared.

“And how come ye done for Long Jim?” asked Buckrow, and Petrak moved uneasily and cleared his throat.

“Jim played nasty with me, Bucky.  Never looked to him for it, but we was down the trail a bit and he ups and turns on me with a knife.  Cussed if I knows what for, and I didn’t have time to ask him particulars, but had to drill him, and drill him I did, as I’m no man to stand for knife-play, and as I was trotting myself back who should I come on but the writin’ chap, here, stretched in the grass, so for a time I thought he had been stretched for good when up he pops and reaches for a gun, and I give him the butt fair behind of the ear.

“Lucky job, Bucky; lucky for ye and lucky for me, as he’d done for ye clean in another turnabout, and then, with Thirkle there as he is, a fine time I’d had of it.  But it wasn’t myself I was mindin’, nohow, Bucky, but you, as I had my gun and could have drilled him after he drilled you; but I couldn’t stand to see ye get it in the back as he minded to give it.  Lucky for ye, hey, Bucky?  We can play fair on that score, can’t we, Bucky?  Not for me and he’d have ye and—­”

“Oh, stop yer whining and lying!” said Thirkle.  “It was yer own pelt ye took care of, and now ye want to get thick with Bucky, but it won’t do ye a bit of good, Reddy.  He’ll do for us all now; but if ye got any sense stir up Mr. Trenholm here and find what’s become of the ship and his mates.

“Step on the gentleman’s neck and see if he’s dead.  While yer gamming away here ye don’t know how many more are in the bushes hereabout with guns ready to chip ye.  Stir him up and let’s see what happened to the Kut Sang that he’s here at all.  It’s plain she didn’t go down.”

Petrak kicked me in the ribs, and I groaned and opened my eyes as if I had just recovered consciousness, for I did not care to let them know I had been listening to any of their conversation.

“What’s all the trouble?” I asked, looking about, and then sitting up and gazing at the three pirates as if I were still confused.

“Everything lovely,” said Thirkle, grinning at me.  “Your old friend, Mr. Petrak, put you to sleep.  I am indeed surprised to find you so well after all that happened on board the Kut Sang, and your belt there, which Bucky removed, seems to be well filled with weapons.  What became of my old friend, Captain Riggs?  And where is the Kut Sang?”