He had arisen, calm again.
"We had best toss these rogues overboard," he said; "their bodies might excite suspicion. We can get into their boat, and turn this adrift; perhaps it will serve to throw our pursuers off the track."
And with my help, he tossed the dead bodies into the river. Two of them were dead, cold, and stiff; the third, whom I had kicked in the face, lay as though dead. We had no time to examine him; alive or dead he must go into the stream, for it would mean certain death to Sir Robert to leave this fellow behind, to tell of his share in my escape. So we cast him overboard.
The boat had neared us; a spare, gaunt man, wrapped in a dark cloak, with a worn, patient face, stood erect in the stern, and as he came in speaking distance, shouted to Bobby.
"What means this, Captain? I expected thy brother an hour ago, and have lost time waiting for you."
"I could not help it, Governor," he answered. "We were set upon by robbers down the river, our men were murdered, and it was only after a hard fight that we saved our lives. We rowed for two hours and more against the stream, as though the furies were at our heels, to catch thy ship."
He said nothing as the boat reached us, and we clambered aboard.
"It is Governor White," Bobby whispered in my ear.
"What wouldst thou have me do with thy boat?" White asked, eying us closely.
"Turn it adrift," I answered. "It has done its work." And leaving it, we pulled towards the spot where the ship lay awaiting us.