AND SO WE WERE, BACK in the Officers’ Mess. A half hour ago our troubles had begun here; now they threatened to end abruptly and, for us, horribly.
But the half-breed’s eyes had narrowed. A liar and dastard himself, he had a liar’s distrust for everyone else. He nodded toward the closed door on the farther wall.
“We haven’t been in there. Where does that lead?”
I said caustically, “No, and there’s one mouse-trap you haven’t crawled into yet, too. What’s the matter? Got a tapeworm? That’s just the kitchen.”
It sounds right daring now that I see it in writing, but it was pure braggadocio. I figured my number was up, and a few healthy insults wouldn’t make me die any deader. But our captor paid no attention. Prodding Captain O’Hara before him, he pushed into the galley.
Of course Captain
