“That’s so; it will give us a fine start,” said Arthur.
But, somehow, no one seemed wildly enthusiastic over their prospects. However, as they caught the fresher breeze, and the little Spray stood stiffly up into it and ate away to windward, their spirits rose. Then, as the islands came plainly into view and they drew nearer and nearer to the first, big Saddle Island, with its low range of little hills dropping down in the centre in the shape of a horse’s back, the excitement became intense; for the Nancy Jane had not rounded the point of Eagle Island, and it seemed as though they might be out of sight behind Saddle Island before they could be seen by those aboard the pursuing yacht.
“Go it, old Spray! Good little boat!” cried young Joe, as the yacht glided swiftly up into the shadow of the island. “We’re going to make it, and, once behind old Saddle, who’s to know which way we have gone?”
“Five minutes more of this sailing, and we shall fool Captain Sam once more,” said Bob.
The five minutes were nearly up. They had but another leg to run to round the head of Saddle Island. They stood out till they had one and all declared that they could clear it on the next tack; they were all ready to go about. George Warren stood with one hand on the tiller and the other ready to grasp the main-sheet. Joe and Arthur Warren were waiting impatiently to trim the jib-sheets, and then—and then George Warren took their breaths away.
All at once he jammed the tiller over, threw the Spray clear off the wind, let the main-sheet run, and before they scarcely knew what had happened, instead of standing in to round the head of Saddle Island, the little Spray was running dead before the wind and heading squarely back for the point around which the Nancy Jane must soon come in sight.
It was so quickly done that at first they thought there was some mistake, and Arthur and Joe and Bob rushed to the stern to help bring her around again; but George Warren, with a firm, set look on his face, stood them off.
“Oh, I say, George, you’re not going to give it up now, are you?” cried young Joe, who had been in high spirits not a moment before.
“That’s what,” responded his brother, quietly. “I’ve thought it all out at last, and I’ve come to the conclusion we are doing the cowardly thing to run away. We have got to face the thing, and we may as well do it first as last. Besides, we didn’t set out to run away when we started.”
“That’s a fact,” said Tom. “We have sort of drifted into this running away business without realizing what we were doing. Now the best thing we can do is to go back and have it out with Colonel Witham.”