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In the haze of his pain and in theto discern the captain’s intentions, he had nearly forgotten his jacket, which now lay on the deck a few feet away, as near to Ghost as it was to Jack hi on to his hard-won prize, but his eyes gave him away

Ghost plucked the jacket froe weight in one pocket He hefted the bag in his hand, dropping the jacket back to the deck

"Had I caught you with this on board your ship, I’d have killed you for it"

"Finn er flickered in Ghost’s eyes as he glanced at the sailor, before he returned his attention to Jack

"We’ve boarded half a dozen vessels returning from the Yukon," the captain said "Yours yielded the sold thus far"

"There’s little to be found," Jack said "The gold rush is ot there is just a few sets and soine"

"And it’s mine," Jack said

Ghost took three steps until he stood directly before Jack, eyes still h Jack had seen the violence in the man

"We own only e can keep, Mr London It isn’t enough to have, nor even enough to take All things pass into the hands of others, in ti into his pocket "If you want this back, you’re welcome at any time to attempt to retrieve it But you’d best be prepared to kill me for it, as I will not hesitate to do the same to you"

Hatred burned in Jack as he recalled the old Ghost watched to see if he would attack, but Jack London was no fool Even at his best, without the pain in his ribs and face and the ringing in his head, he would need all of his cunning and a great deal of luck to best Ghost in a fight

"I’ll keep it in ave a curt nod and turned back toward Finn

"My orders were clear, Finn He was not to be touched Worse yet, you hoped to rob him and keep the dust for yourself--"

"No, sir," Finn began "It weren’t my intention at all I only--"

Ghost’s cruel sh to silence the man

"And now you’ve interrupted me," the captain said

The ship creaked, lines swaying, pulley blocks jangling, but the creas utterly silent Jack had seen this before in the packs of sled dogs in the frozen north He had watched as a ed the leader, as a bloody, snapping, snarling fight ensued, and as the rest of the pack looe the loser These were s, but their on intent

"Do I not give my men a fair share of the spoils, Finn?"

"You do, sir," Finn said, his voice faltering "My word, you do"

"And yet," Ghost said, almost idly "And yet"

He turned and paced a bit, tapping his te the part of one deep in thought Then he glanced at Jack and tipped him a wink, an amused twinkle in his eye

"Mr Johansen," Ghost said

Jack turned to see a sailor step forward, a lanky ers This, he knew, must be the first mate, for the captain had called him Mister, and to him would be delivered the orders

"Sir?"

No trace of a smile remained on the captain’s face

"Keelhaul hied fro knife as he hurled himself at the captain Ghost slapped the blade froht So fierce and strong was the captain that he had the man on his back in the space between heartbeats He raked a single fingernail along Finn’s jaw, drawing blood and causing the sailor to cry out in surrender

"It’s the keel or your throat," Ghost growled, his face bent so low that the two men were nose to nose He almost whispered, but in the loaded silence the whole crew heard "Pain or death Those are your only choices"

Finn went slack beneath hi his back on the defeated sailor The captain paused and looked at Jack

"They are forever our only choices, young Jack As you will most assuredly learn"

As a boy, Jack London had been so of a pirate hiery of his work at Hickh money from his fosterlife, he had been in the co with some of them as they raided the oyster beds in thewhat they could by night and selling it off in Oakland the nextOyster pirates, they called themselves, and with his new boat, he’d becolorious adventure