For meanwhile Tom Bodger, stick in hand, had made his way back on to the pier, and just as the boy was going his fastest something followed him faster, in the shape of the wooden-legged sailor’s well-aimed cudgel, which spun over the surface of the pier, thrown with all the power of Tom’s strong arm, and the next instant it seemed to be tangled up with the boy’s legs, when down he went, kicking, yelling, and struggling to get up.
“Hi! Oh, my! Help, help!” he yelled at his comrades; but they only stood staring, while the foremost sailors passed on so as to block the way of escape, and the next instant the offender was hemmed in by a half circle of pursuers, who formed an arc, the chord being the edge of the pier, beneath which was the deep, clear water.
“There,” cried the middy, triumphantly. “Got him!” Then to his men: “Bring the young brute here.”
Meanwhile, as the boy lay yelping and howling in a very dog-like fashion, the laughing sailors began to close in, and then suddenly made a dart to seize their quarry, but only to stand gazing down into the harbour.
For, in pain before from the contact of the stick and his heavy fall, but in agony now from the dread of being caught, the boy kept up the dog-like character of his actions by going on all fours over two or three yards, and then, as hands were outstretched to seize him, he leaped right off the pier edge, to plunge with a tremendous splash ten feet below, the deep water closing instantly over his head.
“He’s gone, sir,” said one of the sailors, turning to his officer.
“Well, can’t I see he has gone, you stupid, cutter-fingered swab?” cried the middy. “Here, back into the boat and round to the other side of the pier. You’ll easily catch him then.”
“Not they,” said Aleck, quietly; “didn’t I tell you he was as quick and slippery as a conger?”
“Look sharp! Be smart, men,” cried the middy, angrily.
“What’s the good of tiring the lads for nothing?” said Aleck, as the men began to scramble into the cutter. “It will take them nearly ten minutes to get round to where he went off.”