"Then fire, and be d——d!" growled Helldorf, who thought that they had got far enough from shore not to need to fear a shot, especially in the dark; but Von Schwanthal, who never doubted but that this boat was connected with the other, and, in his haste and excitement, not remembering that Bertha, herself, should she happen to be in it, might be hit, levelled and fired; and directly after the flash, even before the report reached them, the slugs, with which the gun had been loaded, struck in and around the pirogue, and Werner could not suppress a low cry of pain.
The second barrel missed fire.
"Are you wounded?" cried Schwarz, turning round, in alarm, towards his friend; "has that blockhead hit you?"
"Hit, certainly; but it's nothing—only grazed, I believe—for God's sake don't let us lose time—we shall be too late else—away!—yonder flies the boat, and if he once reaches the further shore, how are we to follow him?"
Schwarz and Helldorf knew but too well the truth of this remark, and, without another word, they urged on the slim canoe, which was considerably lightened by the removal of their baggage, with the speed of an arrow, through the current, after the fugitive.
FOOTNOTES:
[24] The Boiler-deck, in American river steamers, is the space forward of the cabin, on the lower deck, between the two chimneys which pass up through it, and top over the hurricane deck.
[25] A settler calculating on this would stand a chance of being starved.—Tr.
[26] Girdling is a bad and slovenly practice, as the girdled trees, when the rest are cleared away from around them, are very liable to be blown down, and thus endanger men and animals; again, the wood gets so very hard, that it is much more difficult to cut into lengths for logging and burning, when it is blown down.—Tr.
[27] A pfenning is German money, value 1/12th of a penny.—Tr.