THE STRATEGY OF THE CHASE.
Dory Dornwood had accomplished all that he intended by his plan. The
pilot of the Missisquoi would not dare to cross the ledges, and it would
be necessary for her to go nearly a mile to the southward to get around
them. Dory calculated that his manoeuvre had given him two miles the
start of the steamer.
Captain Vesey and Pearl Hawlinshed seemed to be holding a consultation.
Dory imagined that Pearl was trying to persuade the captain to venture
in among the rocks. If so, he was not successful; for the Missisquoi did
not come any nearer to the ledge.
"What is she going to do next, Dory?" asked Corny Minkfield, while the
boys were waiting for the next move of the steamer.
"That's more than I know," replied Dory, chuckling at the success of his
plan. "I think Captain Vesey had enough of getting aground yesterday,
and he don't want to spend the day laid up on one of these ledges. I
believe the steamer would go over Champion Rock all right; but her
captain is shy, and I don't think he will come any nearer than he is
now."
Dory had headed the Goldwing to the east. As he had predicted, the wind
was increasing, and the schooner carried quite a bone in her teeth. It
looked a little like a game of chess, where each player has to wait a
long time for the other to make his move. The captain and his passenger
appeared to be still engaged in the discussion in the bow of the boat.
Dory thought he could quicken their movements; and, hauling in his
sheets, he stood to the south.
"There she goes!" exclaimed Thad, as the steamer started her propeller
again.
"I think we can keep her moving," replied Dory. "She will go to the
southward as fast as we do, to head us off. We can play this game as
long as she can."
"But who wants to stay here all day fooling with that steamer?" said
Corny.
"I don't know that we have any thing better to do," added Dick Short.
"We have got enough to eat to last us all day."
"I think we shall have some variety in this thing. Captain Vesey has to
deliver the Missisquoi to her new owner to-night, and he can't stay here
much after noon," replied Dory.
In fifteen minutes the steamer was well to the southward of Champion
Rock, and began to turn to the eastward.
"She is coming around to pick us up on this side of the rocks," said
Thad.
"That's all right, but she won't pick us up," answered Dory. "I am
afraid it will get very monotonous before she overhauls us by her
present tactics."
Dory put the boat about, and stood to the north. He continued on this
tack until the Missisquoi was directly south of Stave Island, and of
both ledges, which were in a line with the island. She had gone half a
mile farther to the southward than was necessary to avoid Champion Rock;
but her pilots were not well posted, and they seemed to be determined to
keep on the safe side.
The skipper waited until the steamer was half a mile to the eastward of
the ledges, and then he proceeded to beat across the dangerous ground.
He took a southerly tack first, so as to bother the pilot of the steamer
as to his intentions. The Missisquoi kept on her course, and Pearl was
evidently bothered.
The pursuer had not thought there could be any difficulty in capturing
the owner of the Goldwing when he had a steamer to use in chasing her.
He had found out his mistake. The captain and engineer had not earned
their five dollars apiece yet, for they had not put the passenger on
board of the schooner. Doubtless they were continuing the chase for the
purpose of obtaining their money, for the boys were satisfied that
Captain Vesey had no other interest in the pursuit.
As the Missisquoi put her helm to starboard, in order to run to the
north, Dory tacked the schooner, and stood off to the north-east. This
course would carry him directly over Stave Island Ledge. The effect of
this move was soon apparent, for the steamer stopped her screw again.
Her pilots could see that it was useless to go any farther on her
present course. By the time she got a mile farther, the Goldwing would
be on the other side of the ledges. Another discussion seemed to be in
progress between the captain and the passenger. But it was not continued
long; for the Missisquoi put about, and stood to the westward.
"She has got enough of that," said Thad. "I don't believe she will keep
it up much longer."
"It is cool and comfortable here, and I think we can stand this sort of
thing as long as she can," added Dory.
"Of course we can; but the game is ended, and the Missisquoi is going
back to Plattsburgh," suggested Corny.
"The game is not ended yet," replied Dory: "in fact, it has but just
begun."
"What's the reason it isn't ended?" demanded Corny, who did not like to
have his conclusions disputed. "What is the steamer going off in that
direction for, if there is to be any more fun?"
"Is that the way to Plattsburgh, Corny?" asked Dory quietly.
"She has gone off and left us, whether she is bound to Plattsburgh or
not. If she means to catch us, why don't she stick to it?" continued
Corny.
"She is sticking to it. The way to catch a pigeon is to put salt on his
tail, you know," answered Dory, laughing. "She is beginning to play her
game now. If she had gone to the north-west, instead of to the west, I
might believe she had given it up; and I should be ready to head the
Goldwing for Burlington as soon as I saw her to the eastward of
Valcour's Island."
"What do you think she means to do, Dory?" asked Thad.
"I am very clear what she means to do. I wouldn't give anybody two cents
to write it down for me," replied the skipper confidently. "She has gone
to the west so that she can coax us out from these ledges. If she could
get us away from these dangers, where she could chase us, she would soon
be up with us."
"There are plenty of rocks and shoals south of us," suggested Thad.
"But there are buoys on them, and a hundred feet of water between them.
Very likely Captain Vesey knows his way among them. We can very soon see
whether she has given up the chase or not," said Dory, as he put the
boat about, and headed her to the south.
"Are you going to run for Burlington, Dory?" asked Corny.
"We are headed in that direction now," replied the skipper.
"But the steamer does not change her course," continued Corny.
"And she won't change her course until we have gone a couple of miles
farther to the southward. They are getting smart on board of the
Missisquoi," added Dory, like one who is driving a winning horse.
All hands watched the steamer very closely, and Corny would have given
something handsome to have it made out that Dory was mistaken in his
calculations. He was loyal to the skipper, but he did not like to have
statements of the latter prove true every time. The steamer did not
change her course, but she did not seem to get ahead very fast.
In half an hour the Goldwing was off Colchester Reef Light. The
Missisquoi was still headed to the west; and Corny was beginning to feel
triumphant, though he was not confident enough to say much. The steamer
was three miles distant; but Dory was satisfied by this time that she
had stopped her propeller, and was only waiting for the schooner to get
a little farther to the southward, where she could not dodge in among
the dangerous rocks.
"She is coming about!" shouted Thad.
"It is about time for her to do something," replied Dory. "But she is
not coming down this way."
"How do you know she isn't, Dory Dornwood?" demanded Corny, who was
rather indignant when the skipper made another prediction.
"I think I understand her little game," answered Dory mildly; for he
felt that he could afford to disregard the sharp tones of Corny.
"Where is she going?" asked Corny, wishing to make the skipper commit
himself fully.
"She is going to the eastward," replied Dory without any hesitation; for
it was all a plain case to him.
"How do you know she is, Dory?" demanded Corny. "She is still turning;
and she isn't headed any way yet."
"I think it is easy enough to see what she is about, Corny. Can't you
see it with your eyes shut?"
"No: I'm sure I can't; and I don't believe you can, Dory Dornwood,"
added Corny.
"She is now just as far west of Champion Rock as we are south of it. She
is going to the eastward, so as to cut us off if we try to reach the
ledges again. I think she has got her course now."
It was plain enough to all the members of the Goldwing Club, that, as
they could see the whole of the starboard side of the Missisquoi, she
was headed to the eastward. Corny gave it up when he saw that he could
hold out no longer. From the smoke that poured out of the smoke-stack of
the little steamer, it was plain that she was crowded to her best speed.
"She is in a hurry now," said the skipper, laughing.
"She is going to do a big thing now," added Thad. "She is going to catch
us, sure."
"But I think we had better be doing something," continued the skipper,
as he put the Goldwing before the wind.
"What are you going to do now, Dory?" asked Corny.
"That will depend upon circumstances," replied Dory, who suddenly
appeared to be disposed to keep his own counsel.
As soon as the schooner was up with the light-house, the skipper hauled
in his sheets again, and headed the Goldwing to the north-east. This
course seemed to bother the steamer, for it made it evident that the
boat did not intend to go near Champion Rock.
"She's after you again," said Corny a few minutes later. "She has
altered her course, and is coming down this way to head you off."
"All right! Let her come," replied Dory.
"But we are getting pretty close together," added Thad. "She is going to
catch us this time. At least, I am afraid she is."
"Don't worry about it, Thad. She isn't going to catch us on this tack."
The Missisquoi was coming in between Hog's Back Island and the reef of
the same name. She kept the red buoy on her starboard, and the black on
her port hand. She was hardly more than a quarter of a mile from the
Goldwing, and running for a point ahead of her. It began to be very
exciting for the boys, for they believed she would overtake the
schooner in a few minutes more.
But the Goldwing came out just a little ahead; and the steamer was
astern of the boat, but not more than a hundred yards. She gained on her
every minute, until suddenly the Missisquoi stopped.