“Why cannot three or four of us go off in the boat and intercept the Maud as she goes through the inlet?” asked Louis earnestly. “We cannot!” replied the captain sharply. “If I had known that I was to come down here on a fighting expedition, to overhaul a lot of cut-throats, I would not have come; at least not without a squad of policemen on board. What can you do if you go off in the boat, young man?” demanded Captain Brisbane sternly, and with a sneer on his lips. “If we could get on board we could gain possession of the vessel,” replied Louis with spirit. “Do you take me for a pirate, Mr. Belgrave? I would not attempt a thing like that under any circumstances. Besides, Captain Ringgold directed me to watch the Maud if I found her, and follow her if she got out of any of these inlets. He told me not to meddle with her,” returned the captain; and Louis had to admit to himself that he had the best of the argument. “My mother is on board of that schooner, and am I to stand here like a mummy and do nothing to save her?” demanded Louis, somewhat excited. “That is just what you are to do, young man. You cannot help yourself, and I cannot help you. I could not do anything more than I have done if it were my own mother they were carrying off,” replied Captain Brisbane in a more pliable tone. “It would be madness to attempt to board a vessel making eight or ten knots an hour with a jolly-boat. We should all be shot down.” “I am almost sure there is not a firearm of any kind on board of the Maud, for I took care to obtain possession of all I could find.” “I did not ship my men for this kind of duty, and they would mutiny if I required them to engage in such a venture.” It was useless to argue the matter with the captain, or attempt to persuade him to embark in the foolhardy enterprise of capturing the vessel, and Louis could only watch the Maud as she continued on her course to the open sea. She kept well away from the point till she was about west of the inlet where the wreck of the Phantom lay, and then hauled her sheets till she had the wind over her port quarter. She dashed on her course with all the speed she could make, keeping as far to the southward as the depth of the water would permit. By this time Kimpton had related his story, and Scoble was as wise as his pursuers. Louis looked at the vessel as she passed through the inlet, as both the bay and the passage into it are properly called, with the spy-glass. Frinks was at the helm, and no other person could be seen on her deck. Possibly the captain of the Maud feared that a pistol shot might disable him or some other person on board, and he had ordered all but the helmsman below; but the schooner was out of the reach of any weapon in Louis’s possession, even if he had been disposed to use one.