THE LANDING OF THE ROBBER.
The steamer ran ahead of the Belle as far as the depth of the water
would permit, so as not to delay the latter unnecessarily. I dropped
into the jolly-boat, which was towing astern, with a couple of deck
hands at the oars; and the moment the steamer stopped, we cast off.
Pulling to a point in the path of the Belle, the men lay on their oars
till she came up. Tom luffed up a little, and I sprang on board, so
that she lost hardly a moment.
“Good! I’m glad you’ve come, Wolf; for that rascal is going ashore, to
take his chances there,” said Tom, as I leaped aboard the Belle. “Just
set up on the weather side, and keep as still as a mouse--as still as
two mice.”
I took the place assigned to me, and kept as still as I was desired to
be. The boat which had put me on board returned to the steamer, and
she ran up the lake about a mile, where she landed a part of the force
on board. Coming about, she steamed up to the wharf at Gulfport, where
she sent on shore the rest of the men. Colonel Wimpleton could not wait
for the issue, and the steamer then started for Middleport, in order to
enable him to raise the money to pay his note.
Less than half a mile from the shore of the lake there was a road which
led from Gulfport to Port Gunga, which was to be the line of attack for
the pursuers. About twenty of them had volunteered for the service,
and they were to be scattered along the road, so that it would be
impossible for the robber to pass this line. If this one had the money,
or any considerable portion of it, with him, the chances were decidedly
in favor of obtaining it in season to pay the colonel’s note.
The Belle was about half a mile from the shore when I went on board of
her, and the Raven was about half way between her and the land. Above
Gulfport the lake was bordered for some distance by a perpendicular
cliff of rocks, from twenty to fifty feet high; but below it there was
in some places a kind of shelf or beach, formed by the crumbling of
the rock and earth above it. There were not many places where a boat
could land when the wind was fresh, as on the present occasion, and
these were hardly available to a person not acquainted with the coast.
The cliff, which extended for several miles along the lake, could be
climbed only in a few places. The robber’s chances of getting away
from us, therefore, were not first rate. And then if he succeeded in
climbing the cliff, he was sure to be confronted by the force along the
road.
The Belle was doing her prettiest, and from the beginning had been
gaining upon the Raven, for the wind was too fresh for the latter,
though the rascal on board of her handled her exceedingly well. Tom
Walton was cool enough to work the boat to the best advantage, and his
whole soul was in the business he had in hand.
“You have been beating him, Tom,” said I, as a splash of spray ducked
both of us.
“I have gained half a mile on him since we started,” replied Tom,
without taking his eye off the chase.
“That fellow sees it, and understands the situation. Probably he will
smash the Raven in making a landing.”
“He won’t unless he wants to do so. Let that fellow alone. He knows
what he is about, and there isn’t a better boatman on the lake or in
the state than he is. He’s as cool as a cucumber, and when he sees the
right place to land, he’ll go ashore,” added Tom, who could not help
admiring the robber’s skill, in spite of his crime.
The villain certainly compelled the Raven to do her best, and if the
breeze had not been too heavy for her to carry sail, he would have run
away from his pursuer. As it was, he was obliged to touch her up, and
let out the sheet when the fresh flaws came, which materially retarded
her progress. Both boats dashed furiously on their course towards the
shore. We saw the robber stand up in the stern-sheets of the Raven, as
she came within hailing distance of the land, evidently for the purpose
of examining the prospect ahead. The rocks did not appear to suit his
fancy, for he let out his sheet, and stood farther up the lake.
“Do you see that, Wolf?” exclaimed Tom, as the fellow put his helm up.
“I was in hopes he would try to land there, for the cliff is fifty feet
high,” I replied. “And he couldn’t get ashore without smashing the
Raven.”
“Didn’t I tell you he knew what he was about? Wolf, in my opinion, we
are no match for that fellow, and he will get away from us,” added Tom,
shaking his head significantly.
“If he gets away from us, he won’t escape the twenty men who are on the
lookout for him in the road.”
“I’m not so sure of that. A fellow who is smart enough to make his way
through a couple of iron doors, and sail the Raven as that chap does,
can do almost anything.”
“Don’t give it up yet, Tom.”
“Give it up! I’ve no notion of giving it up. I’ll follow him from Dan
to Beersheba, till the sun goes down on the other side of the Cape of
Good Hope. But he’s smart, if he is a villain; that’s what I mean to
say.”
“There’s no doubt of that, Tom; and we must be smart, too,” I replied.
We had gained nothing since I came on board the Belle, or not more
than enough to make up for the moment lost by luffing up. The Raven
was still about a quarter of a mile ahead of us. Her skipper was now
sailing her along the coast, on the lookout for a convenient place to
land. Under the lee of the shore the wind was less gusty, and I was not
sure that she was not now gaining upon us. Out in the middle of the
lake, where the sea was heavy, the Raven did not behave so well, and it
was possible that the robber intended to continue the cruise under the
lee of the shore.
“Wolf, he’s smart!” ejaculated Tom, after we had followed the fellow a
few moments under the lee of the rocks. “He’s gaining on us, as sure as
you live!”
“Do you think so, Tom?”
“I know it.”
“Then keep her away a little more, and run out into the lake, where you
will get the full force of the wind.”
“That’s the idea! I was just thinking of doing that,” replied the
skipper, as he followed the suggestion. “Let her slide! I’d give two
and sixpence if I only had a gaff-topsail to help her along a little
more. I always intended to have one as soon as I bought her.”
“It wouldn’t help her much.”
“Yes, it would, Wolf. One square foot of sail up by the topmast, where
it would get all the wind there is going, is worth two down by the
boom. That’s so! By Jim Hill, Wolf, that fellow knows what he is about!”
“Of course he does!”
“But don’t you see what he is up to, Wolf?”
“He is up to getting away.”
“Yes; but he is not going on shore till he gets beyond the place where
the steamer landed those men. That’s just what he is up to now. He saw
her land them, the same as I did.”
Doubtless it was very important to fathom the purpose of the robber;
but, as it was soon demonstrated, we were not skilful enough to do so.
Tom had run the Belle out into the lake till she rolled and pitched
heavily in the sea. In doing so he had increased the distance between
her and the Raven, though, half a mile ahead, the trend of the coast
would drive the latter out so as to compensate for the loss, if she
continued on her present course. While we were comforting ourselves
with the prospect of this advantage, the Raven suddenly hauled her
wind, and ran by the shortest line for the shore.
“There she goes!” shouted Tom, grasping the main sheet with a kind of
desperation, and putting down the helm.
“That fellow knows this shore as well as I do,” I added, as Tom headed
the Belle towards the chase. “He has chosen the best place to land on
this side of the lake.”
It was the spot where the steamer had landed a portion of her _posse_.
There was a kind of gully in the precipice, through which the water
from the hills made its way into the lake. In fact it was the outlet
of a brook, which was dry, however, except in the wet season. A boat
of the size of the Belle or the Raven could run into the inlet about
her length, so that a person could step over her side upon the shelf of
rock and earth beneath the precipice.
The cliff was hardly fifty feet high on each side of the indenture in
the rock, and it was rather a difficult task to climb up from the
shelf, though a bold person could do it. Twenty rods above this point,
however, there was an easy ascent to the summit of the precipice by
a zigzag path up the rocks. If the robber was acquainted with the
locality, as he appeared to be, he would make for this path. His boat
was headed towards this landing-place, and we watched his movements
with the most intense interest. As it was probable that the men on
shore had not stationed themselves below this point, I was obliged
to acknowledge to myself that the villain’s chances of escaping were
better than I had believed at any time before.
It was possible that he had discovered this available landing-place
from his position in the boat, and that he was not aware of the
existence of the zigzag path. He ran the Raven into the outlet of
the brook, lowering the jib and mainsail as he approached the narrow
opening, so that the boat lost her headway in season to prevent any
injury to her hull as she grounded in the shoal water. The rascal
leaped lightly on shore, with a travelling-bag in his hand, which I had
no doubt contained the plunder from the bank. He paused on the shelf
below the cliff, glanced at the Belle, and then at the precipice. He
did not appear to be in a great hurry, and examined the means of ascent
to the land above with deliberate care. His action assured me he knew
nothing of the path, and the prospect seemed to brighten.
Tom decided to land at a point below the gully, in order to save time,
and to enable us to choose our own means of approaching the robber.
I lowered the jib and mainsail, and Tom ran the Belle upon an abrupt
gravel beach, about twenty rods below the gully. We landed, and hauled
the boat as far up on the shore as our united strength would permit. I
deemed this a prudent measure, after certain experience I had had of a
similar nature. Tom took from his pocket the revolver which Waddie had
given him, and which he had fully charged with patent cartridges on his
cruise up the lake, and we hastened to the gully.
The robber was climbing the cliff, and had already nearly accomplished
the ascent. The rocks at the side of the ravine had crumbled away so
that the first part of the way was comparatively easy. At the top grew
some bushes on the verge of the cliff. He had reached one of these, and
had thrown his left arm around one of them. He had evidently caught
hold of a root of this bush, which projected over the cliff, and hauled
himself up by main strength to his present position, where he seemed to
be resting after his violent exertions. He had swung his travelling-bag
over his shoulder with a string.
“Shall I fire?” said Tom, producing his pistol.
“No. We don’t want to kill him,” I replied, appalled at the idea of
taking the life even of a robber.
Tom seemed to be of my mind, and rushed towards the cliff. I followed
him. He easily accomplished the greater part of the ascent, and was
almost within reach of the dangling legs of the robber, when the
villain aimed a revolver at him, and fired. Tom released his hold upon
the rocks, and would have fallen over backwards if I had not caught him
in my arms.
[Illustration: THE ROBBER FIRES AT TOM. Page 152.]