Let's go."
VII
We were none too soon. People had been reconnoitring us, the telegraph
had been at work, and we were not four hours at sea before we ran
against the gunboat that had been sent down the coast to look for us and
that would have caught us behind the island like a beast in a trap. It
was a night of driving cloud that gave intermittent gleams of moonlight;
the wind and sea were strong and we were rolling along through a drift
of rails and mist. Suddenly the world was white with moonshine. The
gunboat came out as a long dark shape wallowing on the water to the
east.
She sighted the Maud Mary at once, and fired some sort of popgun to
arrest us.
The mate turned to me.
"Shall I tell the captain?"
"The captain be damned" said I, and we let him sleep through two hours
of chase till a rainstorm swallowed us up. Then we changed our course
and sailed right across them, and by morning only her smoke was showing.
We were clear of Africa--and with the booty aboard I did not see what
stood between us and home.
For the first time since I had fallen sick in the Thames my spirits
rose.
Pages:
566
567
568
569
570
571
572
573
574
575
576
577
578
579
580
581
582
583
584
585
586
587
588
589
590