I waited while several of them gently picked up the body, and bore it forward into the shadows.  Others busied themselves in straightening the overturned furniture, and gathered into a small pile those few scattered coins which had fallen to the deck, and been overlooked by the two gamblers in their eagerness to escape.  No one attempted to appropriate any of these.  McAfee apparently knew most of the fellows intimately, calling them by name, and seemed to be recognized as a leader among them.  This fact was encouraging, as to all appearance they were a rough set, unaccustomed to law of any kind, and to be controlled only by physical strength, and some one of their own sort.  In spite of my position and rank, I was far too young in appearance to exercise much weight of authority over such border men, but fortunately I possessed sufficient good sense to rely now in this emergency upon the black-bearded McAfee, who served well.  His voice, strongly resembling a foghorn, arose in threat and expostulation unceasingly, and the miners, who evidently knew him well, and perhaps had previously tested the weight of his fist, were lamb-like and obedient to his control.

“They’ll be quiet enough fer a while, leftenant,” he managed to whisper hoarsely to me.  “But they is jest boys growed up, an’ if eny one o’ them should really take a notion ter raise hell, all the cussin’ I might do wouldn’t make no diffrance.  Whatever yer aim at, better be done right off, while I kin sorter keep ’em busy down yere; onct they git loose on the deck the devil himself couldn’t stop ’em frum startin’ a row.”

This advice was so good that I slipped instantly away, silently gained the door, and, unobserved, emerged on to the deserted deck without.  The sudden change in environment sobered me, and caused me to pause and seriously consider the importance of my mission.  Through the thin walls of the cabin the murmuring voices of those within became indistinct, except as an occasional loudly spoken oath, or call, might be distinguished.  The struggling Warrior was close within the looming shadows of the western shore, and seemed to be moving downward more swiftly with the current, as though the controlling mind in the darkened wheelhouse felt confident of clear water ahead.  The decks throbbed to the increased pulsation of the engine, and I could plainly hear the continuous splash of the great stern wheel as it flung spray high into the air.

I paused a moment, hand gripping the rail, and eyes seeking vainly to peer across the wide expanse of river, really fronting the situation for the first time, and endeavoring to think out calmly some definite course of action.  Thus far, spurred only by necessity, and a sense of obligation, I had merely been blindly grasping at the first suggestion which had occurred to mind.  The emergency had demanded action, rather than reflection.  But now, on cooler consideration, and alone, the result I sought did not appear so apparent,