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96 ably have flown at each other there and then. It needed but a match to the gunpowder. Physically they were fairly evenly matched. The sailor had the advantage of height by an inch, with thew and muscle hardened like steel. Moniz's shoulders were massive, and he had a peculiarly long reach; but though he lacked the sheer power of the man before him, he was quick as a cat in every movement, he had the sinew of a horse, and he possessed the grim, relentless determination which carries a man beyond his normal breaking-point when it comes to a life and death struggle.

While a swift flood of emotion weltered through their minds, each was oblivious of everything save the presence of the other. Suddenly, with a ghost of a smile flickering about his lips—a smile that was meant to taunt and goad—Moniz descended the steps, but at the bottom turned to ask with a sneer:

"Did you fall off that ship, or did they throw you overboard?"

Keith clenched his hands and for a moment did not move. A sudden pallor swept over his face. For a second time on Tao Tao a vision of the Four Winds flashed vividly before him. The scene in the captain's cabin as his eyes had last fallen upon it came to him in minute detail.

Then he strode down the steps quickly with a set face.