The chief did not relinquish his hopes of being able to take the vessel, as soon as he was ready to start on his cruise, but he did not then arrange any plan of attack, nor did he have much to say about the business in hand, until he once more found himself safe under Mr. Newcombe's wharf. He guided the yawl to the landing, in front of their hiding-place, and was about to issue some orders to the band, when Friday intimated to him in a whisper that there was something unusual going on in the cave. The chief held his breath and listened intently; but the noise, whatever it was, had ceased.
"Do you reckon that ar Bobby Jennings has got loose?" he asked, anxiously.
"If he has, we'd best look out," said Jack Spaniard. "He won't be ketched as easy as he was before. But I didn't hear nothing."
"Well, I did," said Friday. "I heered the rattlin' of a chain, an' the dog a growlin' like he was fightin' something."
The chief waited to hear no more, but, stepping cautiously out of the yawl, he took his stand in front of the door and listened.
There was not a boy in the band who did not believe that their prisoner had succeeded in freeing himself, and that he was at that very moment on the point of leaving the cave. We ought, perhaps, to except Tom Newcombe, who now took no interest whatever in what was going on. He did not care a straw whether the fisher-boy escaped or remained a prisoner, as he had come to the conclusion that he could not belong to a society unless he was allowed to have a hand in the management of its affairs. The other members, however, preferred that Bob should not regain his liberty just then; but, although they well knew what would be the result if he succeeded in getting away from them, there was not one in the band, no, nor two, who would have dared to go into the cave to attempt his recapture. Sam Barton did not feel exactly safe, even on the outside of the door; for, after he had listened a moment, he said, in a whisper:
"Come up around me, fellers, and stick together. If he comes out, don't give an inch."
The words were scarcely out of the governor's mouth when the board that concealed the door was removed, and the fisher-boy crawled slowly out of the cave, only to fall into the arms of his rival.