That is, ordinarily I am stronger; but he seemed now to be suddenly endowed with the strength of a dozen men. He was forcing me again toward the open doorway inch by inch. I tried to reach my gun, but couldn't; then I went for Perry's throat. He bit me like a mad dog, but he never relinquished his efforts to push me into the ocean.

I spread my legs as far apart as I could and finally straddled the opening; that give me a sense of greater security, but Perry kept on tugging and pulling and straining. It commenced to look as though the one who had the most endurance would be the victor. I couldn't notice that Perry was tiring in the least. I was still trying to reach his throat. At last I got a grip on his collar and pulled his head down toward me into a position that would expose his throat to my other hand.

Suddenly he opened his mouth and made a lunge at my jugular with his teeth. I jerked his head to one side, and he missed my throat but fastened his teeth in my shoulder. But then I got my fingers at his throat and commenced choking. He opened his jaws in a hurry; and as he raised his head to pull away from me, I got another hold with my free hand. Then, take my word for it, I choked. He was blue in the face and his tongue was lolling from his mouth when I dropped him.

I don't know why I didn't kill him then; I was certainly warranted in doing it. But I didn't relish the idea of killing men-not then. I got up and closed the door; then I sat down on the edge of my cot and tried to get my breath back. I was just about all in. Perry lay unconscious where I had left him. For a while I did not know but that I had killed him without meaning to, but no such luck.

Glancing through the open doorway, I saw that we were again enveloped in fog, and judged that the cans of oil I had thrown overboard had lightened us sufficiently to permit our again rising up into the fog layer; however, there was a chance that the fog might be lying on the surface of the water in places and, to be on the safe side, I threw over the remaining cans of oil.

Then I returned to Perry and, rolling him over on his back, slipped the bracelets around his wrists, securing his hands behind his back. He was commencing to show signs of reviving and was struggling and gasping like a fish out of water. Perhaps I should have felt sorry for him, but I am afraid that I didn't. His numerous vicious attacks on me had had their effect upon my nervous system, leaving me rather callous to his suffering.

The fight I had just been through, coupled with loss of sleep and nervous exhaustion over a period of days, left me pretty well done up; I was reasonably sure that the ship was rising from the immediate danger of foundering in the ocean and Perry was no longer a menace to my life, so I threw myself upon my cot and, despite Perry's struggles and groans, must have fallen asleep almost immediately.

I slept several hours, for it was daylight when I was awakened by a heavy body falling upon me; it was Perry. His wrists manacled behind him, he had launched himself upon me and was trying to reach my throat with his teeth. His face was distorted with rage and he was growling and frothing at the mouth. With my knees and hands I succeeded in pushing him off onto the floor, but as I leaped to my feet he was up and at me again.

I tried to keep him away from me without hurting him, but he followed me up, kicking and biting and butting with his head. He had become a raving maniac. Finally, I was compelled to knock him down; and this I had to do repeatedly, for the remnant of his mind seemed fixed by a single obsession that he must kill me.

Not once during this battle did he utter a word, but he made terrible noises that made every hair on my scalp feel as though it were standing on end. I have heard men and animals scream in rage and terror and death agonies, but I have never heard any sound as hideous as those that issued from Perry's foaming lips that morning in the fog above the Pacific.

I must have knocked him down half a dozen times before he finally lay still. It made me feel like a brute and a coward, this striking a man whose hands were fastened behind his back, but what else could I do? I had tried to get hold of him and pinion him down until I could truss him up in some way that would render him helpless; but he kicked and bit at me so viciously and, in his madness, had developed such tremendous strength that I was wholly unable to cope with him without risking terrible injuries myself.

After Perry went down for the count I hunted about for some rope to tie him with. While I was in the control room he regained consciousness and arose to his feet again. He stood there at the far end of the cabin with his head lowered, glaring at me.

"Perry," I said, "quiet down.