A few swift strokes with the paddles brought them close upon me; but I was on the alert, and just as Pete bent down to seize me by the collar, I sank out of sight.
When I arose to the surface again, I was twenty yards further down the stream. As I shook the water from my face and looked around for my enemies, I was surprised to see them paddling with all possible haste toward the bank they had just left; and the moment they reached it, they jumped out of the canoe and dived into the bushes like a couple of frightened deer.
I was not long in finding out what had caused them to abandon their pursuit of me so suddenly, for scarcely had they disappeared when Duke, Herbert and Mark galloped up.
When they discovered me crawling out upon the bank, they drew rein and broke out into a loud chorus of questions and exclamations—one demanding what I was doing in the water, another asking if that wasn’t Pete who had just jumped into the bushes on the opposite shore, and the third shouting out something that I knew very well already, namely, that Luke Redman had just gone by, mounted on my horse.
I did not attempt to answer their questions, for I could not forget that Black Bess was very fleet, and that while we were wasting time in talking, she was fast increasing the distance between us, and lessening our chances for capturing her and her rascally rider.
“I can’t stop to explain now, fellows,” said I. “Come back, and stand by me until I get my horse, and then we’ll start in pursuit of that robber!”
The reason I asked our fellows to “stand by” me was because I knew that Pete and his companion were not a great way off, and I was afraid that if I went back to camp alone, they would pounce down upon me and make a prisoner of me again.
I could see by the expression on my friends’ faces that they did not exactly understand why I stood in need of protection; but they were too considerate to waste any more time in asking questions.
I led the way up the bank at a rapid run, and in a few minutes we arrived opposite to the camp.
Duke was on the point of riding across the bayou to bring my horse, when Sandy Todd came in sight, carrying four squirrels in his hand, and moving along with a slow and deliberate step that was exceedingly aggravating to us just then.