Belcher Kay easily raised himself by his muscular arms into the store; he then assisted Blodget up. The others remained in the boat.
A very few moments sufficed for Blodget and his companion to saw the hoops of the mackerel barrels, and thus get possession of the boxes of gold.
They were quickly lowered into the boat, and the thieves got safely off with their booty.
‘Vell if old Wandevater don’t svear in the morning, I hopes I may never see old Hingland again,’ cried the patriotic Briton as he saw the Golden ballast stowed in the bottom of the boat.
‘Pull for Mission creek,’ said Blodget, ‘they’ll give Sydney Valley an awful searching to-morrow.’
The robbers made good their escape, with the thirty thousand dollars in specie, that had been so ingeniously hidden as Mr. Vandewater supposed.
Great was the surprise of the worthy merchant, when summoned, early in the morning, by the storekeeper and informed that the store had been entered.—‘But,’ said his informant, ‘they gained nothing by all their trouble, and out of spite destroyed the few barrels of mackerel that were brought to the store the other day.’
‘Then they have got all the money.—Where’s Monteagle?’ cried Mr. Vandewater.
‘I tried to find him at his lodgings,’ said the man, ‘but he had not been at home all night, I was told.’
At this moment Brown, Mr. V’s partner, entered, and expressed great surprise at the fact of the money being in the store of which he had not been informed. ‘’Tis very remarkable that Monteagle should be out all night, the very time of the robbery. Was Monteagle aware of it being concealed in the barrels, and placed in the store?’ continued Brown interrogatively, to Vandewater.