“But how are we going to cast off the painter?” asked Seth. “It’s made fast on deck, and of course we can’t go up there.”
“We won’t stop to cast it off, we’ll cut it; and you had better have your knife out, all ready.”
“What do you suppose Uncle David will think, when he finds the painter cut and the boat gone?”
“We don’t care what he thinks. We’ll let Coulte and his boys explain that in any way they please. We want to get out of this schooner as soon as we can—that’s all that interests us just at present. Don’t this morning’s work beat you?”
While Bayard was speaking he had opened the window very slowly and carefully, and seizing the painter drew the yawl close up under the stern. Scarcely had this been done when Will announced, in an excited whisper, that there was some one coming down the ladder.
“It is time for us to be moving, then,” said Bayard, as soon as he had satisfied himself that Will’s ears had not deceived him. “Seth, give me your knife, and you and Will jump into the boat and be ready to shove off when I say the word. Be lively, now, but don’t be in too great a hurry, for the more haste the less speed, you know.”
Had Bayard been as excited as his cousins were, it is very probable that they would not have succeeded in effecting their escape from the cabin in time to avoid discovery. The two brothers displayed a great deal of awkwardness, and made considerable noise in getting through the window; and had it not been for Bayard’s help they might have stuck fast there. He held the curtain up with one hand, assisted his cousins with the other, and at the same time kept his eyes fastened on the door which he expected to see opened every instant. The voices and footsteps came nearer and nearer, and, just as a hand was laid upon the latch, Bayard dropped the curtain to its place, sprang lightly into the boat, and with one swift blow with the knife cut the painter. Their escape had been a very narrow one, and he too began to be excited.
“Shove off,” said he, in a hoarse whisper, “and pull around the schooner, for fear that father might come to the window and look out.”
The bushes were thick, and it was a matter of some difficulty to push the heavy yawl through them; but the boys exerted all their muscle, and made such good use of their time that they succeeded in reaching the shore before any of the crew returned to the deck.
“That danger’s over,” said Seth, with a long breath of relief.