“Great Scott, Nick!” he exclaimed, when Antoine had been assisted to his feet and a few necessary explanations were made; “I didn’t expect to find you here, or I wouldn’t have come out so swift. I was pounced on from behind while I was waiting for you, a blanket was chucked over my head, and I was brought here and locked in before you could say Jack Robinson. That must have been a week ago, at least.”
“Two hours and a half,” corrected Nick.
“Is that all?” Then he gathered Bessie under his arm and led her from the château, following Nick and Antoine.
There was no more fighting.
Their progress out of the château was not impeded in any way, nor did they meet with interference across the causeway.
The place where they had left their conveyance was reached at midnight, and just as the sun was rising in the morning they succeeded in signaling the Dolphin.
The United States vessel took them to a convenient harbor and left them there, for passage home via one of the liners; but the war vessel returned to the Château de Cadillac, accompanied by a French gunboat.
Of the resultant fate of the smugglers themselves, there is no record; but of the Shadow, it is known that she was raised from the bottom, where she was resting, and ultimately delivered to her owner, who was a Russian prince, for whom she had been built to order.
Bessie Harlan was restored to her friends, and the secret of her mysterious trip abroad was never divulged.