It pleased me when the old man was obliged to quicken his pace to a run, for before we were well out of the thicket the foremost of the boats had gained the shore.
We pressed on rapidly until coming to where our canoe was hidden, and there we halted, not wanting to embark until Elias had had plenty of time in which to get well up the river, for, to me at least, his recapture was more important than the task of carrying information to the commanding officer.
Lying within the shade of the trees, and so far up river that we could neither see nor hear the swarm of soldiers which had lighted upon Benedict, we took things easy for a couple of hours, keeping sharp watch, however, to make certain that no craft passed us, and then Darius gave the word to get under way.
By this time it was night, but the young moon and the stars in a cloudless sky, lighted up the water-way clearly, and we had no fear that Macomber could give us the slip, unless he returned by land.
We paddled leisurely, for our news was not of such a nature that an hour or two sooner or later would make a difference so far as Commodore Barney's plans were concerned, and had gotten such a distance on our journey that I began to fear the traitor had struck across the country, when we hove him in view half a mile or more ahead.
He was still running up the river, but I questioned if he intended to take any chances on being discovered, for such as he would rather manufacture information out of his head than encounter danger.
Darius, who had been using one of the paddles, now took the helm, and the canoe was swung inshore where she would be partially hidden by the shadows of the foliage, for we did not care to start in open chase because he would probably take to the woods on discovering us, and then our chances of making the capture would be small indeed.
When our quarry rounded a bend in the river, shutting himself out from view, we bent all our energies to the paddles, sneaking inshore immediately we opened him up again, and thus we rapidly lessened the distance until at the third turn of the shore we were less than thirty yards astern.
"Now give it to her, lads!" Darius said sharply. "Put all your strength to the blades, an' we'll heave him to in short order!"
As we rounded the bend, the water foaming from the boat's bow much as it would have done from the stem of a ship under full sail, Macomber was but a short distance ahead, and Darius cried: