“But—­I must do something,” I added, miserably.  “You know what will happen when the hands come aft.  It will be the skipper’s excuse; Newman told me it would.  I can’t see him butchered without doing something to prevent it.  Why, ma’am, Newman is my friend!”

“He is my life,” said she.  Her voice was so low I barely caught the words.  “But I would not buy his life with murder; it would lower him to their level.”  She swayed, and clutched at my shoulder; I thought she was falling, and gripped her arm to steady her.  But she was not the swooning kind.  Not the lady.  She recovered herself instantly.  She clutched my lapels, and laid down the law to me.

“There must be no fighting.  The men must not come aft,” said she.  “If they do, it will ruin everything.  Boy, you must stop them.  Deakin will help you.  You must hold them back.”

I shook my head.  “It’s too late,” I informed her.  “They will not listen to the parson, or me; they are too afraid.”

“But they must be stopped!” she cried.

“Only one man can stop them—­and that’s Newman, himself,” I replied.

“What time have they set?” she asked, quickly.

“Next eight bells,” I told her.  “We gave the skipper’s spy to understand it was timed for four o’clock in the morning; but the lads really mean to make the rush at midnight.”

“Then we have time,” was her verdict.  “And you must help me.”

She pointed to the deck.  My eyes followed her gesture, and for the first time I examined the floor of the room.  The first thing my gaze encountered was a large carpenter’s auger, or brace and bit; the next thing I saw, was a pattern of holes in the floor.  There were two rows of them, parallel, each about eighteen inches long, and the same distance apart.  The holes overlapped each other, and made a continuous cut in the deck.

The lady thrust out her hands, palms up, for my inspection.  Upon each palm was a great red blister.

“I was nearly despairing,” said she, “I could longer press down hard enough.  But now——­”

She did not need to explain.  The sight of the holes and the auger told me enough to set me to work instantly.  Aye, I grabbed up the tool and turned to with a song in my heart and the strength of Hercules in my arms.  There was after all a chance to save my friend, and it depended in part upon my haste and strength.  A chance to save him without murder.

The lady locked the door, and came and sat down beside me.  While I worked she explained the plot behind the task.  She talked eagerly, without reserve; it helped her, eased her mind, I think, to unload into my ears.

I was boring my way to Newman.  My task was to connect the two rows of holes already bored through the deck with two other rows; when I was finished there would be an opening in the deck some eighteen inches square.  A manhole to the lazaret below, where lay Newman.