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[Illustration: To the Rescue]
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The Fourteenth Chapter.
_The Chase. In which is told how Big Bill sailed the Black Rover, and
of the glee of the Buccaneers at their cunning baffling of the King &
Mr. Poodle._
[Illustration]
When Long Jim said the shooting of the cannon would alarm the whole
town he told but the truth. It did more than that however, for it
warned King Tommy and Mr. Poodle that it was the lake and not the
castle to which their company must ride, thus saving them much valuable
time. What a clatter the horses did make galloping through the town;
out of one street and into another they went, all the while willingly
straining in every muscle to attain the utmost speed of which they were
capable, seemingly realizing the great anxiety of their riders. King
Tommy rode at the head of the column, his sword in his fist, his head
thrown back and his hair blowing in the {108} breeze, while he shouted
words of encouragement to his followers, bidding them keep stout hearts
and strong arms for the defence of the city, and the rescue of their
Queen.
When presently the little company came to the lake, the good horses
bore them almost into the water before their mad gallop could be
checked; and then only by pulling the fiery steeds back on their
haunches were the brave riders saved from getting a good ducking.
It was the work of only a moment to dismount. What to do next the King
did not quite know, for already those on the pirate craft were casting
off their grappling irons, and as soon as the _Black Rover_ could get
free from the _Royal Yacht_, with a piping breeze filling her sails she
would soon reach the mouth of the river, when all hope of capture would
be lost. Being such a cunningly built craft, and drawing so little
water, under the skilful handling of the Buccaneers, the tortuous bends
of the river would be navigated through shallow and twisting channels
where no other ship could follow.
“If we only had a gunboat,” said the King, “I could go into the conning
tower and direct the shots, so as to rake that pirate ship fore and
aft, and in about a minute sink her.”
“Yes, that would no doubt be the right thing to do,” said Mr. Poodle,
“provided there are no captives aboard. But—”
“Do you think they have captured Queen Helen?” said Tommy, never once
realizing how he had interrupted the words of Mr. Poodle. “See! There
are ladies in the _Royal Yacht_ waving to us. Every man to the rescue!”
Row boats were now quickly boarded, and with stout men tugging most
manfully at the oars, were made to skip over the water at no slow rate,
and so reached the _Royal_ {109} _Yacht_ before the _Black Rover_ had
sailed over half the distance to the river. It could now be seen with
one glance that the Queen had been captured, and even this was not
required, as the ladies were excitedly calling the news the moment the
boats came within hailing distance.
[Illustration: Off to the Yacht.]
King Tommy and Mr. Poodle were the first to reach the abandoned yacht,
and without waiting for the others, they sprang quickly to the sail and
the helm, and soon had the boat headed for the river and chasing the
pirates’ craft.
The _Royal Yacht_ was a good sailer, and under some conditions might
have overhauled the _Black Rover_. But now, King Tommy saw such a task
to be hopeless and that the Buccaneers would enter the river before
there was any chance of their being overtaken. The only hope lay in
a shot from the yacht cannon, and as this meant danger to {110} the
Queen, it was no sooner thought of than abandoned. Meanwhile the _Black
Rover_ had reached the mouth of the river, and Big Bill, in glee at
his successful capture of the Queen and no less successful escape from
the King, trained his brass cannon on the fast approaching yacht and
fired a parting shot. Buccaneers are usually fine shots, but from a
careless aim, due probably to excitement, the cannon ball went wide,
never coming within yards of doing any harm. This it did do, however:
it showed to the King the danger of continuing the pursuit, especially
when fear of hitting the Queen made it unwise to return the fire.
By this time the _Black Rover_ had reached the first bend in the river.
Once past that there would be no hope of rescuing the Queen. The
Buccaneers were again training their cannon on the approaching yacht,
this time with a more determined aim, and Tommy, as he stood manfully
at the helm, felt for the first time that he had been beaten, and for
the safety of the ladies aboard the yacht he should keep out of range
of the next shot. Quickly throwing over the helm, he allowed the yacht
to head up into the teeth of the wind, and gave up the chase. Hardly
had the yacht changed her course before there was a flash and a boom
from the deck of the _Black Rover_, and a big shot plowed through the
water only a few feet astern, drenching King Tommy with a sheet of
spray. But for this quick maneuver, the _Royal Yacht_ would undoubtedly
have been hit below the water line and sunk.
When the Buccaneers now saw that the chase had been abandoned they
waved their hats and shouted in wildest glee, and the next minute,
reaching the bend in the river, were lost to sight behind the
overhanging trees.
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[Illustration]