"And if I refuse?"

"Then, of course, we shall be compelled to shut your mouth for you.
Self preservation is the first law."

"Which simply means that you intend to go on, and yield nothing?"

"That is about right. We'll hold tight to what we've got--hey, Carver?"

"That's allers bin my way o' doin' business," chimed in the other
brutally. "An' we've sure got you, mister soldier man, where we kin
handle yer, I reckon."

I looked about at them both, scarcely able to distinguish clearly even
their outlines in the dense gloom. The seriousness of my situation,
coupled with my helplessness, and inability to achieve the object
proposed, was very evident. These men were reckless, and determined,
unable to even grasp my point of view. It might, under these
circumstances, have been the part of wisdom to me to have sought some
means of compromise, but I was young and hot, fiery blood swept through
my veins. The words of Kirby stung me with their breath of insult--his
sneering, insolent offer to pay me to remain still.

"You must rank me as one of your own kind," I burst forth. "Now you
listen to a plain word from me. If that was intended as an offer, I
refuse it. When I first left the cabin, and came here on deck, I
honestly believed I could talk with you, Kirby, appeal to your better
nature, and gain some consideration for those two girls. Now I know
better. From the start this has been the working out of a deliberately