And in any event, the immediate thing to do was to release Newman.  It would at least give him a fighting chance.  She urged haste, and I worked like a fiend.  It was hard work.  The deck planking was three inches thick, and the number of holes I must bore seemed endless.  I was surprised at the amount of work already accomplished; it did not seem possible that this slender woman had done the two long rows of holes.  Nor had she, I learned.  Wong had bored most of them, during the odd moments he could slip away unobserved from his work.  The tradesman who furnished the tool had even driven a few.  The lady had done some of the work, as the condition of her hands proved.  But my coming was really providential.  She could never have finished the job on time, and now she knew of the crew’s intention, she recognized the need of haste.

I longed mightily for a saw.  Yet I knew I could not have used a saw had I possessed one.  A saw makes a carrying noise.  The tool I had was nearly noiseless.  I sweated and wondered, and now and then asked a question.

I wondered what Lynch would do when the lads came aft.  Aye, and I discovered that this was one reason the lady was so terrified at the prospect of mutiny.  For Lynch, she was certain, would make common cause with the rest of the afterguard against any uprising forward.  He was helping her and Newman.  But he had no interest in helping the hands.  The hands were just hands to him, so much beef to work and beat.  He would never side with the foc’sle against the cabin.

“I have sailed three voyages with Lynch,” said she.  “He is a hard man, a cruel man; I have seen him do terrible things to sailors.  But he is also, according to his lights, a just man.  His brutality is always for what he considers the ship’s welfare, never for any personal reason.  You know how he has treated you, and Roy, and other men who know and do their work.”

“Fair enough,” I admitted.

“When my—­my husband tried to kill Roy, that night you and he were aloft together, he violated James Lynch’s very strict code.  He considered that attempt a serious blot upon his honor.  He told him—­Angus—­as much.  He told him he would not have that sort of thing in his watch.  It wasn’t regard for Roy that made him say that; it was just that he thinks it is not right to kill or even hurt a man for personal reasons, but only when the welfare of the ship is at stake.  And also, I think—­well, he—­likes me.  He is willing to help me.  That is why, a week ago, he came to me and offered his help.  He had discovered what my—­my husband really intended doing; I think he overheard a conversation between my—­between Angus and the mate.  He said we were both in danger, I as well as Roy, and that we must leave the ship.

“Roy suggested the longboat, and he agreed.  Roy can navigate, of course, and there are islands not distant from our present position.  So we have been preparing the boat, and Mr. Lynch planned to launch it some midwatch when the mate and—­and Captain Swope were in their berths.  He hoped to get us away so quietly they would know nothing about it until hours later.”