"We have been gone longer than I intended, for the boiled ham took more time than all the rest of the things," replied Dory, as he and Corny deposited their joint burden on the forward deck of the Goldwing. "The Missisquoi was this side of Crab Island when I saw her, and she can't be far off."
"What do we care for the Missisquoi now?" asked Corny.
"Cast off that bow line, Dick Short," added Dory, without answering the question.
The skipper shoved the schooner off from the wharf, and told Dick to hoist the jib. Heading the Goldwing to the eastward, Dory stood out of the harbor. The boat was hardly under way before the Missisquoi put in an appearance at the northern entrance of the bay. Dory kept on his course after he had calculated the point at which the steamer was likely to come nearest to him.
"There she is!" exclaimed several of the club in the same breath. "She is striking in ahead of us."
The Missisquoi was less than a quarter of a mile from the Goldwing. It could plainly be seen that there were two men in her pilot-house; and Dory was confident that Pearl Hawlinshed was one of them. His intentions were certainly very serious if he had gone to the expense of hiring a steamer to chase him. Probably he had found some way to break up the sale of the Goldwing. But, whatever his mission, the skipper did not want to see him. He was too closely connected with the secret of the night before to come any nearer to him. He decided, that, if the son of his liberal friend succeeded in "interviewing" him, he would have to run for it.
"I don't understand what that fellow wants of you, Dory," said Corny Minkfield.
"And I don't understand it any better than you do," replied Dory. "All I have to say about it is, that I don't like the looks of the fellow, and I mean to keep out of his way. Pass round the grub, Corny."
Dory thought the food would stop their mouths, and it did. His fellow-voyagers asked no more questions, for they were too busy with the provisions to give attention to any thing else.
As the Goldwing went out from the land, she began to feel the force of the wind, and she darted ahead under the influence of the sharp puffs. A few minutes later the Goldwing passed the bow of the Missisquoi not more than forty rods from her.