"No you won't, neither!" shouted Sam, indignant at the proposition.
"But if I do," continued Tom, without noticing the interruption, "you won't gain any thing by it. On the contrary, you will find yourselves in ten times the danger you are in now; for the prisoner we had confined in that cabin has escaped, and of course he has alarmed every body on the island. We are going to sea again, immediately, and, if you will remain with us, and behave yourselves, we will take you to a place of safety. You ought to remember that we don't want to be captured any more than you do."
"But you have got the whole village after you," said the burglar.
"Look here, mister, be you goin' to let go my collar?" asked Sam.
"It is by no means certain that every man in Newport is after us," said Tom. "Don't you suppose there are some in pursuit of you? Your best plan would be to remain with us; and, if we succeed in getting out of the bay, we will land you on some island, out of reach of the police officers and the telegraph. If we find our escape cut off, we will run our vessel ashore and take to the woods."
The burglar seemed to be impressed with Tom's arguments, for he released the governor, and turned to consult with his companion; while Sam, who was utterly amazed at Tom, led him off on one side and inquired:
"Hain't you made a nice mess of it now? Do you intend to show them fellers the way up the cliff?"
"Of course I do."
"Well now, skipper," said the governor, doubling his fist, and shaking it in the air, "of all the mean things I ever knew you to do, this yere is the beat. Have you forgot that we want to pay them for tryin' to cheat us?"
"No, indeed," replied Tom, emphatically. "I am bound to carry out my new idea, and you have seen enough of me to-night to know that I mean what I say. We will guide them up the path as far as the chasm, and leave them. We'll tell them that we had a bridge across there, but it is gone; and that they'll have to get over the best way they can. In the meantime I will turn the schooner around, and, when I am ready to sail, I'll send you word; and I'll wager my share of the thousand dollars that the robbers, rather than be left alone in the cove, will come with us."