"You must have had a time of it," he said. "Your faces are dripping with sweat, and the blood is all over your doublets."
"Such a fight as I have never made before," Bobby replied. "I had given up hope several times, but still we kept on. How camest thou to wait for us?"
"I suspected something of the sort," he answered quietly, "and so we waited for a while. But I had given you up in despair and was about to sail, when one of the sailors spied your boat, and called my attention to it. I knew at once who it was, and so came back to pick you up. But pull, men!" he cried—"pull! We are much delayed as it is."
He was plainly worried, and I did not blame him. All London doubtless knew of my escape by now, and they were scouring the country high and low for me; at any moment we might come upon a party of the searchers, and then good-by for White and his voyage. It was light now, and we could be plainly seen from the banks of the river; the bustle and hum of the city came dimly to our ears. They would probably search the ship before they would let it sail—no wonder White's cheeks were pale.
A few moments, and we neared the ship; a crowd of eager faces peered down at us, sailors and adventurers, men of all sorts and conditions, they jostled and pushed each other, and the hum of their voices reached my ears, as, assisted by two sailors, I stumbled up the ladder, and down into the cabin, followed by Vane. Concealment now was useless, our only safety was in flight. Should our ship be stopped, all on board knew of our arrival, and discovery was inevitable.
White closed the door behind him.
"I am risking much for Walter Raleigh," he said. "We must take to our heels now, and evade them as best we can. Do you both stay below, until I send for you. I will set Sir Robert off at some point further down the river, where he can reach his place without suspicion," and with that he hurried out of the room.
The wind had freshened, and with all her sails set, the vessel flew through the water. We were passing among the shipping docks now, for I could see the sides of the vessels from the little open window where I stood.
A hoarse shout struck my ears—"Stop! in the name of the Queen, I command thee!"