"Aboard with you!" called the skipper.
Roderic was the first to spring on deck, but the others were at his heels.
To sight the oncoming boat was now their design, and accordingly they leaped across the deck, believing Shackelford would head direct for that nearer quarter.
Nor were they mistaken in this surmise, for as they reached the rail the boat from the blockade runner shot under them and hauled up alongside.
CHAPTER XV.
CAPTAIN BOB GUESSES NOT.
Shackelford was a daring spirit, one of those Britons who have carried the flag into remote passes of the Indian border, and whom the desperate fortunes of war never daunt.
He had doubtless led charges into the jaws of death, and passed through adventures enough to fill volumes.
In this case however, it was Tartar against Tartar—British bulldog vs. British mastiff. When he rubbed up against such men as Beven and Roderic Owen, he met those who were of his own calibre, and should the affair come to blows it promised to be a pretty sight.