He turned like lightning, and, with the boy in his arms, sped back again towards the beach in the hope of getting a canoe and gaining the opposite shore of the island. But his pursuers were gaining on him fast, and when the beach was reached at last he turned and faced them, for every canoe was gone.
The officer motioned to his men to stand back.
“Brandon, there is no chance for you. Do not add another crime to that which you have already committed.”
“No, sir; no. I shall do no more harm to any one in the King's service, but I will never be taken alive.”
He pressed the muzzle of his pistol to his heart, pulled the trigger, and fell dead at their feet.
OXLEY, THE PRIVATEERSMAN
I.
All day long the Indiana, Tom de Wolfs island trading brig, had tried to make Tucopia Island, an isolated spot between Vanikoro and the New Hebrides, but the strong westerly current was too much for her with such a failing breeze; and Packenham, the skipper, had agreed with Denison, his supercargo, to let Tucopia “slide” till the brig was coming south again from the Marshalls.