"We are only two, and I don't think of fighting them, or any thing of that sort; though I am ready to lay hands on them if the chances are in our favor. I don't think they are fighting characters, like the one already captured." "But they are not going to give themselves up without some sort of persuasion." "We will persuade them, then, if they insist upon it. There are only two of them left on board of the vessel. By the use of a little strategy, we can get on board of the schooner. Then we can watch our chances, and do what the occasion may require." "Very well, Dory: I will assist you. But your uncle will not care to have you attack these fellows." "I don't know that we shall attack them: that will depend upon circumstances. I handled the chief of the gang, and I am sure I can manage any one of the others. They are not more than eighteen or twenty years old, and I am as heavy as any of them." "Then, I ought to be able to manage the second one," added the instructor. "The two who are going ashore cannot possibly get back to the vessel without a boat; and, no doubt, they count upon finding the one they used this morning." "You must be very careful what you do, Dory." "I certainly shall be; but I can't think of letting these villains escape, as they may, if we do nothing." "One of them has reached the shore," said Mr. Jepson. "And the other will be there in a moment," added Dory, as he rose from his sitting posture to enable him to see better. "They will make it their first business to find Angy Spickles. They won't find him, and they will do a good deal of looking for him before they give him up. We will not show ourselves for a while,--not till the two on shore have had time to go some distance from the lake." The second raftsman landed on the beach all in a heap, and the first one assisted him out of the water. They dragged their floats out of the water, possibly thinking they might want them again; though they must be reasonably sure of finding the schooner's boat. As soon as they had disposed of their rafts, they started for the point from which the last call of their leader, as they supposed, had come. They began to shout as they went into the woods, and in a short time their voices came to the listeners from a considerable distance. "Now is our time," said Dory, as he seated himself in the boat, and got the oars ready for use. "Shall I take an oar?" "That will be the better way. When those on board see the boat coming, they will think it is their two companions, and they will wonder what has become of Angy," continued Dory. "But if the fellows on shore see us, they will spoil your little arrangement," suggested the instructor. "But they won't see us. How can they see us when they are a quarter of a mile off in the woods?" argued Dory.