"Tell you I seen a man right under her nose. Better stop the boat."
"I guess I'll keep straight on," he replied. "What's it got to do with me, anyway? He ain't a passenger----"
He stopped and gasped as an enormous, saturated spectre climbed over the side. A crowd of men playing cards nearby stopped their game and stared.
"Who in hell are you?" asked the Captain.
Jim shook the wet from his hair and pushed forward without a word. His keen eyes ranged all over the packed decks. Then he grunted as he caught sight of a familiar figure in the stern of the boat. It was Angela, white of face, and amazed at the appearance of this totally unexpected apparition. The crowd, struck dumb with wonderment, made way for him. He strode up to Angela and stopped within a foot of her, gazing fixedly into her eyes.
"Can't wait too long. It's a tidy swim, and the river gits wider every mile."
She recoiled from him in horror. For the past hour she had been dreaming of the comforts and joys of civilization. Once in the river, escape had seemed certain--and here was her pugnacious jailer with determination written all over his set features.
"Are you mad?" she retorted. "I'm finished with that terrible life. This time you have come too late. Unless you go ashore now there will not be another chance."
He moved towards her and caught her firmly by the arm. A group of men, interested spectators of the drama, thought it was time to interfere. One of them, a grizzled man of fifty, touched Jim on the arm.
His interrogator disregarded him, and turned to Angela.
"He is--he is----. He wants to take me back there, to a place I hate! Oh, please bring the Captain!"
The captain was already pushing his way through the crowd, annoyed at this unconventional method of boarding his ship. He put both hands in his pockets, stuck out his little bearded chin, and glared at Jim.
"What the blazes do you mean by boarding my ship? Where's your ticket, eh? And leave that lady alone--she's a passenger of mine."
Some of his indignation vanished when the fierce gray eyes of Jim fixed him in an unflinching stare. He saw trouble looming in the offing. Jim turned his eyes to Angela.
Linking her arm in his, he began to push through the crowd. The grizzled man said something to his comrade, and they spread out and formed a human barrier to his further progress.
