"Humph!" grunted the chief. "You're trustin' a good deal to luck, 'pears to me. Mebbe that plan will work, an' mebbe it won't. If we lose our passage-money, we can thank you for it."
"What else can we do?" asked Tom. "It's the only way I know of to avoid a fight."
"Well, captain," said the burglar, who had thus far done the most of the talking, and who answered to the name of Sanders, "we've concluded that we had better go. You can send a man to show us up the path."
"All right," replied Tom. "You have acted very meanly toward us, and you may have the satisfaction of knowing that you take with you our best wishes for your speedy capture. Governor, you and Atkins guide them up the path, and the rest of us stand by to get the vessel under-way."
Sam thought that the skipper, in spite of his assertions to the contrary, had either given up all hopes of carrying his new idea into execution, or else, that the disappointment he had experienced in the failure of his plans against the yacht, had turned his brain. This new scheme of his for avoiding a fight with the robbers, the governor regarded as a sure method of throwing away their last chance for obtaining possession of the passage-money. If the burglars left the cove, the Crusoe men would never see them again, and the only thing that would prevent them from so doing, was the difficulty of bridging the chasm; and that could be easily overcome.
"Good-by to them thousand dollars," growled the governor, as he lighted his lantern and led the way toward the path. "I'd a heap sooner have a fight with the bugglars, than let them off so easy. They can build a bridge in five minutes."
There were other obstacles, however, besides the building of the bridge, that stood in the way of the robbers leaving the cove, that neither Sam nor Tom knew any thing about; but the former discovered them the instant he came in sight of the chasm. He stopped, astonished at the scene before him.
When Josh and Bill went into the cove to release Jed, they had built a bridge of saplings, by the aid of which the storming party was about to invade the governor's stronghold. Midshipman Richardson was half-way across the bridge, and Johnny Harding, who had armed himself with a heavy club, was preparing to follow the young officer as soon as he was safely over. Behind Johnny stood the young tars, leaning on their muskets, one of them holding a powerful dark lantern, which rendered objects in the vicinity of the bridge as plainly visible as though it had been broad daylight. The chief saw and comprehended, and a smile of exultation lighted up his face, but speedily gave way to an expression of alarm. There was some satisfaction in knowing that the robbers could not leave the cove, and that he and his band might yet have an opportunity to secure the valise and its contents; but there was little to be found in the knowledge of the fact that he was on the point of being attacked by a force that outnumbered his two to one. Sam recognized the midshipman, and knew instinctively that something was going to happen. The fight in the harbor had taught him that the young officer was an unpleasant fellow to have about.
"Ah, Mr. Barton, we 're glad to see you," said Richardson, when he had recovered from his surprise. "You are just the man we are looking for. You may consider yourself a prisoner—you and your villainous companions there. Your harboring place is completely surrounded, and you will save yourselves trouble if you surrender at once."
"Jerusalem!" exclaimed Will Atkins, looking about him, as if seeking some avenue of escape. As he did so, his eyes rested on the pile of stones which he and Jack Spaniard had collected to defend their breastwork against the assaults of the governor, and a bright idea struck him. "Sam," he whispered, "let's heave them rocks at him, an' drive him back, an' then throw down the bridge."