"I'm afraid you'll have to wait till your hurry's over, Mr. Ryder," said the man. "I'm the sheriff's deputy. I understand you are the man who stole two cars of coal from the Lossing Soap Company. I've got to detain you, sir." CHAPTER XIX AN OUTLAW IN FACT Now at this particular moment John Ryder wished to be detained less than ever before in his life. He had but half an hour in the clear to reach the Barr railroad station in any case. White and Ruth had already got a good start of him. As far as he knew there might not be another train to New York over the main line until night; and surely not on the branch from Pinewood until nine o'clock. Sheriff or no sheriff, he made a break for the door of the hotel. The officer ran with him and there was a squabble right in the foyer. "You can't do this, Mr. Ryder!" exclaimed the deputy sheriff. "You're arrested!" "I'll show you what I can do!" declared John Ryder with emphasis, and swung for the officer's jaw. The blow landed and it did him good. Not the sheriff, but Ryder himself. This quarrel took his mind for the moment off the thoughts that had nearly crazed him. He burst through the door, banged it in the sheriff's face, and ran for the inlet. Before he reached the waterside he heard the hue and cry behind him. But there was at least one boatman alert. "Dodging a board bill, Mister?" exclaimed this individual. "Well! I wouldn't wonder if they'll all be doing that. They tell me they shut off the heat and lights on you all last night. Gimme two dollars and I'll put you across." Here was a fellow just as crooked as John Ryder needed at that moment, and the latter leaped into the boat which was thrust out into the tide. Down to the shore plowed the deputy sheriff bawling for them to come back. "I'm deafer than an adder," said the boatman, grinning up into John Ryder's face. "What does he say?" "He seems anxious about the weather," said John Ryder grimly. "He's got another boat. Two men in it. They'll beat you." "Huh! Tom Crane and Andy Meyers. That old punt of theirs is like punk. If we should run into it, Mister, my prow would cut her right down to the water-line." "An extra five dollars for you if you do it," the passenger snapped, his jaw set and ugly. "But don't pick 'em up. The tide isn't dangerous here, is it?" "They kin near wade ashore," agreed the boatman and began to hold back that the pursuing boat would be sure to overtake them. "Sit tight and keep your mouth shut," said the boatman. "The less said the better, as the old woman remarked when she married the deaf and dumb husban'." The deputy sheriff, holding a handkerchief to his jaw, was shouting commands that Ryder's boatman did not in the least heed. But the latter let the other boat come right up on them. "I'll get ye!" shouted the angry officer. "I'll jail you for this! Hi! look out, you numbskull!"