Nevertheless, it required only a few backward steps to bring him to the farther corner of the low cabin, beyond which he crouched, unscathed.
He had been wise enough to retreat in that direction, instead of trapping himself in the cabin. He was now shielded in much the same way as his opponents were, and there was only a narrow, open passageway between him and the water.
He could, therefore, fire over the top of the cabin when the detectives approached to dislodge him, and, whenever things got too hot for comfort, he could always plunge into the river and swim for it.
Nick had no intention of wasting more ammunition under those circumstances. He had a plan ready the instant Grantley subsided behind the barge’s cabin.
“O’Brien, you and Gillespie stay on board here,” he said, addressing the two policemen in plain clothes, “and direct the pilot to drop back and then come alongside again beyond the canal boat. Meanwhile, my assistants and I will skip across the barges and smoke that fellow out. See the point? I want you to be between him and the Jersey shore, on the chance that he’ll escape us and dive overboard.”
“That’s the stuff!” was O’Brien’s enthusiastic answer.
He appreciated the quality of the detective’s strategy, and it is probable that, at the same time, he was willing enough to have Nick and his assistants bear the brunt of the danger. That was only natural.
No time was lost in carrying out Nick’s plan. The utmost haste was necessary, inasmuch as, for all they knew, Grantley might already have slipped into the water.
At a word from Nick, Jack and Chick jumped up and followed him on a run, after vaulting over to the deck of the nearest canal boat.
At the same instant the police boat began to back.