For your part, I hope that you have been
repaid?'
"'It's enough to be alive, just now,' I answered. 'I want a chart, Lee
Fu. I want to see what you did. How you did it is quite beyond my
comprehension.'
"'Oh, that? It was not much. The gods were always with us, as you must
have observed. And I know that place pretty well.'
"'Evidently. Did the "Speedwell" fetch up among those reefs, or to
leeward of them?'
"'The "Speedwell?" Captain, you did not believe my little pleasantry! We
were nowhere near the wreck of the "Speedwell," as Captain Wilbur should
have known had he retained his mind.'
"I smiled feebly. 'I didn't know it. Tell me another thing, Lee Fu. Were
you bluffing, there at the last, or wasn't there really a hole through
the reef?'
"'So far as I am aware, Captain, there was no passage,' answered my
imperturbable friend. 'I believe we were heading for the rocks when we
came into the wind.'
"'Would you have piled us up?'
"'That is merely a hypothetical question. I knew that I would not be
forced to do it. I was only afraid that, in the final anguish, Captain
Wilbur would lose his sense of seamanship, and so would wait too long.
That, I confess, would have been unfortunate. Otherwise, there was no
doubt or especial danger.'
"'I'm glad to know it!' I exclaimed, with a shudder of recollection.
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