He observed her pale and tense, with
parted lips and startled eyes that were fixed upon him, an anxious
witness of this deciding of her fate. He was thinking swiftly,
reckoning the chances if by pistolling Ogle he were to provoke a
mutiny. That some of the men would rally to him, he was sure. But
he was no less sure that the main body would oppose him, and prevail
in spite of all that he could do, taking the chance that holding
Miss Bishop to ransom seemed to afford them. And if they did that,
one way or the other, Miss Bishop would be lost. For even if Bishop
yielded to their demand, they would retain her as a hostage.
Meanwhile Ogle was growing impatient. His arm still gripped by
Blood, he thrust his face into the Captain's.
"What better way?" he demanded. "There is none better. I'll not
be bubbled by what Wolverstone has said. He may be right, and he
may be wrong. We'll test it. It's our only chance, I've said, and
we must take it."
The better way that was in Captain Blood's mind was the way that
already he had proposed to Wolverstone.
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