Adventure stories; Conduct of life -- Juvenile fiction; Sailing -- Juvenile fiction; Ship captains -- Juvenile fiction
He had still a considerable supply of ham and hard-bread and cheese in
the cabin; and, while he watched and waited, he ate his supper. Before
he had eaten all he wanted, he saw the bow of the Sylph beyond the point
of the little island. She had stopped her screw, and this made it
evident to Dory that his uncle suspected he had gone through one of the
openings to the other side of the islands.
The skipper of the Goldwing was tired of the chase, but he did not
intend to be captured by his uncle. He could hear the escaping steam on
board of the Sylph, and he knew that she was not more than a quarter of
a mile distant from him. Captain Gildrock would get out his boats again,
and send them through the passage, where the steamer could not go.
Weighing the anchor, he stood off to the north-west under the foresail
only.
Though the wind was blowing almost a gale, the schooner went along very
well under the foresail. She had not made half a mile before Dory saw
the Sylph standing down the bay again. This movement called for
reflection on the part of the skipper. He was not quite willing to
believe that his uncle would allow himself to be caught again by the
old strategy. If she were going around to the north side of the islands,
it was a five-miles' run; and it would take her half an hour to do it.
After thinking the matter over for some time, he concluded that his
uncle was using strategy. If he was really going around the islands, he
had left the boats where they could intercept him if he resorted to the
old dodge. He decided not to be caught in any trap, and therefore he
continued on his way to the northward. Ahead of him was Wood's Island,
and he changed his course enough to carry the boat to the leeward of it.
It was getting to be quite dark, and the chase could not be continued
much longer. It was less than two miles to Wood's Island, and he was
soon up with the southern point of it. It was now too dark for him to
see the boats, if they had come through from the bay. Dead to windward
he at last discovered a green light, which he had no doubt was the
starboard signal-lantern of the Sylph.
The steamer was really going around the islands. He watched this light
with deep interest, and in a few minutes he made out the red light.
Both the port and the starboard lights were now to be seen, and this
indicated that the Sylph was coming towards him. But she was nearly
three miles distant, and at present he had nothing to fear from her.
The Goldwing was now up with the cape that extends out from the east
side of the island. For half a mile beyond it, was a shoal of rocks and
sand; so that the steamer could not come within that distance of the
shore until after she had passed this shoal. The coast-line of the
island now trended to the west. Taking another look in the direction of
the steamer, he found he could see only her red, or port, light. This
indicated that she had headed to the eastward, and was going towards the
place where Dory had anchored.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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