A STERN CHASE.

To Ben it seemed as if he had never been so awkward as now, when every moment was precious. In trying to gather up half a dozen articles at the same time, he was of necessity obliged to drop several, and the result proved to him the truth of the old adage that “the more haste the less speed.”

Gertie was doing more effective work than any other member of the party. Fear, instead of rendering her nervous, made her the more methodical, and she had been from the tents to the boat twice with an armful of goods before Ben succeeded in carrying his first load.

Old Chloe was absolutely helpless. When Jake shouted the startling information that Dr. Harlan was fast approaching the key, she sank upon the sand a helpless, quivering mass of black flesh, which was by no means silent. She alternately called the names of her companions, or uttered the most absurd threats in case the quack should dare to land, and the outcry only served to make the others more nervous.

“Don’t stop to take down the tents, lad,” Jake cried as Ben began unloosening the ropes. “We can afford to lose ’em, an’ there won’t be room in the boats for everything. Make sure of your money, an’ when I’ve got this water-breaker aboard we’ll start.”

All the stores, as well as the greater portion of the camp equipage, had been conveyed to the little craft by this time, and Gertie was trying to catch the kitten, who appeared to think her young mistress was bent on a frolic, when Jake stowed the cask in the cuddy.

“Come, aunty, we’re off now,” Ben said as he tried to shake the old woman into something approaching activity. “Get down to the boat as quick as you can.”

“Dey’ll drownd all hands ef dey ketch us on dat ’ar little aig-shell,” she moaned, without making any effort to rise, and Ben looked from her to the craft in the distance, which was coming down upon the key so rapidly.

“If we get away before they are in a position to stop us we shall be all right,” he cried imploringly. “_Please_ hurry, aunty.”

“We’ll have to drag her along,” Jake said as he came running from the shore at full speed. “Go on board at once, even if you have to leave the kitten behind,” he shouted to Gertie, and then seizing Chloe by the arm, began to pull her toward the boat with no more ceremony than if she had been a not very valuable article of merchandise.

Ben understood that heroic measures only would avail them at such a time, and he assisted the ex-cook to the best of his ability, the old woman mingling her groans with appeals for the others to let her “die in peace.”

Meanwhile Gertie had succeeded in convincing the cat that this was no time for a romp, and she allowed herself to be caught just as Chloe’s unceremonious removal was begun. Thus the girl could aid her companions in their difficult task, and the old woman was dragged to the water’s edge almost as quickly as if she had gone of her own free will.

“Throw her right on board!” Jake shouted as he struggled to raise the burden to a standing posture, and she cried frantically:

“Lef’ me be! Please lef’ me ’lone, Massa Jake, kase I’se willin’ to step out quick.”

“You two hold the boat so it can’t swing around, and I’ll help her over the side,” Gertie said as she put the kitten in the cock-pit, and three minutes later Chloe was cowering in the cuddy wiping the sand and perspiration from her face.

“Run up the jib and mainsail while I shove off!” Jake shouted, and in a wonderfully short space of time the little craft was so far from the shore that the influence of a strong breeze could be felt.

It was, indeed, time for the fugitives to start. The new-comer, which had caused such a sudden change of base, was hardly more than half a mile away, coming toward the key with a good-sized “bone in her teeth,” and in the bow could be distinctly seen the form of Dr. Harlan, who turned now and then to his crew as if urging them to greater speed.

“You can yell yourself hoarse, old whiskers, without changin’ matters,” Jake said, between his teeth, as he exerted all his strength on the oar, which he was using as a pole. “That boat is doin’ the best she can now, an’ swearin’ won’t do a bit of good.”

Ben did not trouble himself about hoisting the canvas smooth and trim; it was sufficient for him that the sails were up far enough to draw, and when this was done he went aft to assist Jake.

Thanks to their activity the little schooner was running well before the wind in two or three minutes from the time old Chloe stepped aboard, and then it was possible to devote some attention to trimming her in the best condition for sailing.

Jake sat at the helm while Ben swung down on the halliards, carried the sheets free and clear, and stowed neatly away the goods so hastily thrown aboard until the weight was evenly divided, when he had an opportunity of watching their pursuers.

Owing to the delay of getting under way the doctor’s boat was now almost within hailing distance, and her crew could be plainly distinguished. There were three men on board in addition to the quack, and it was only reasonable to suppose they were much better acquainted with the channel than Jake.

“They’re sailin’ her for all she’s worth,” the ex-cook said, glancing back for an instant, and then turning again to watch his own boat that no advantage might be lost. “I reckon he’s promised to pay ’em well if we’re caught, an’ they’ll do their best.”

“Do you think she can sail faster than our craft?” Ben asked nervously.

“That’s hard to tell yet awhile; but we shall find out soon enough. What I’m afraid of is that we’ll plump on to some shoal, for they’re thicker ’round here than June flies in a molasses jug, an’ I’m goin’ to work into clearer water till we can bear straight for Cape Sable.”

“Do you want to land there?”

“Not a bit of it; but we can then work up shore, pervidin’ we hold our own, an’ perhaps get a chance to double back on ’em. Key West is the place we must fetch before landin’, an’ to make things anyways even we oughter be there at least an hour ahead of that quack.”

“I’m afraid it can’t be done,” Ben replied in a low whisper lest the words should be overheard by those in the cuddy. “They’ll manage to hold their own if nothin’ more.”

“Then we’ll give ’em a mighty lively sail of it. We’ve most likely got more provisions aboard than they have, an’ unless we carry away the spars there’s nothin’ to prevent our cruisin’ around for a week. Take the tiller while I fill my pipe, an’ then we can run comfortable like.”

Both pursuer and pursued were well to the north and westward of the keys by this time, each moment getting into clearer water, where there was every opportunity for a long race. So far as could be told the sailing qualities of the two boats were about equal, and if the fugitives should get into the open gulf the doctor might find it necessary to put into some port for provisions and water.

On finding that they were not captured immediately, old Chloe recovered somewhat from the frenzy of fear which had rendered her so incapable of everything save the power of making a noise, and with Gertie’s aid set about putting the cabin to rights.

“I’se reckonin’ Massa Jake’s gwine ter run away frum dat low-down, cheap doctor, an’ we’se boun’ ter fix up here honey, so’s we kin toddle roun’ widout splashin’ all ober dis h’yar lot ob stuff.”

Anything was preferable to remaining idle, speculating as to whether Dr. Harlan would overtake them, and Gertie worked industriously until the interior of the cuddy presented quite a habitable appearance. Then old Chloe began to prepare the breakfast, which had been put on board in a half-cooked condition, and at the end of two hours she dished out a palatable portion for each one, with plenty of cold tea to wash it down.

“There’s no reason why you two shouldn’t come out into the cockpit,” Jake said when Gertie pushed the food from the cabin as she tried to keep herself hidden from view. “Your step-father knows you are here, for he was near enough to see all hands of us when we started, an’ it’ll be more comfortable to move around.”

It seemed to Gertie much as if she was increasing the chances of capture by showing herself, but the desire to be in the open air was so great that after a little hesitation she acted upon the ex-cook’s advice, and all hands breakfasted in the cockpit after a very jolly fashion, even though an enemy was in close pursuit.

Upon gaining the open water Jake’s greatest fear was that the wind would die away until the doctor could overtake them by using oars, in which work he and Ben would have been decidedly at a disadvantage, but happily this did not occur. That which had been only a summer breeze at sunrise continued to grow stronger at noon, when there was quite as much as either craft could stand up under; and dashing the tiny waves into clouds of spray on either bow the two sped on until the low, palmetto-covered shores of Cape Sable drew close on the starboard hand.

So far the race had resulted in favor of the fugitives. At the start they had not been more than a quarter of a mile in advance, while now Dr. Harlan’s boat was so far astern that it was no longer possible to distinguish the features of her occupants.

“Before the wind we’ve got the best of ’em,” Jake said with a smile of satisfaction, “an’ now we’ll see what can be done runnin’ free.”

“Why not keep on this way a while longer?” Ben asked, unwilling to give an advantage for an uncertainty.

“Because they’ll soon have us so near the land that we can’t crawl off, an’ if we’re obliged to go ashore the jig is up, for they could easily catch us.”

After this statement of the case no further protest was made, and the little craft was brought around until the wind came over the port quarter, the pursuing boat adopting the same tactics at once, which still kept her to seaward.

“They’re figgerin’ to stop us from sneakin’ out side,” Jake said as he watched the maneuvers of the enemy, “an’ perhaps they’ll succeed; but I doubt it.”

On this point of sailing neither boat had the advantage, and during the remainder of the afternoon the relative positions remained unchanged, one skirting the shore at a distance of from six to seven miles, while the other hung to her quarter doggedly.

The anxiety of the pursued prevented them from feeling that exhilaration which is produced by rapid sailing, otherwise the day would have been most enjoyable. Chloe served dinner and supper in the cockpit, and although the food was cold, all did it full justice. At nightfall Jake begun to edge further away from the shore, increasing the distance slowly but surely, until when the mantle of night shut down over the leaping waters he had an offing of at least ten miles. The wind had a sensible weight of dampness in it as the darkness increased, and when the gloom hid from view all traces of the pursuers, Jake said, as he pulled his coat more closely around him:

“Now, Gertie, you, Chloe an’ the cat had better turn in. Ben an’ I won’t be likely to have a watch below till after sunrise; but that’s no reason why the rest of the crowd should stay on deck. It’s gettin’ kinder dusty here an’ you’ll be wet through if you don’t crawl into the cuddy mighty lively.”

Nothing could be seen by remaining in the cockpit save the milky-white crests of the waves, and Chloe’s teeth were actually chattering with the cold, therefore Gertie, after giving one last look in the direction where the pursuers were supposed to be, went into the tiny cabin, Ben shutting the companion-way behind her.

“We’re likely to get more wind instead of less,” he said as he returned to Jake’s side, “an’ the question is how much sail can we carry?”

“She’ll stand this an’ considerable more. If it can’t be helped we’ll reef her down; but just now we want to show our best gait, for I’m goin’ to put about in a few minutes an’ point straight toward Key West.”

“If the doctor should do the same thing he’d get there ahead of us.”

“That’s a fact, an’ it’s a risk we’ve got to take. It stands us in hand to be ready for lively work when day breaks; but jest now we’ve got nothin’ to do but set still, for we sha’n’t be near the keys until a good while after sunrise.”

During the next half-hour the little craft continued on up the gulf, drawing the wind more and more astern until Jake said suddenly:

“Go for’red an’ ’tend to the jib-sheets. I ain’t sure that she’ll come about so very smartly, an’ we don’t want to waste any time.”

As a matter of fact the boat did not move as quickly as could have been desired by those who were so eager to gain distance and moments; but she was finally heading down the gulf with her bow pointed as nearly direct for Key West as was possible without a compass.

“We may run slap into ’em, or we may go past without bein’ seen,” Jake said, when Ben came aft once more, “so it stands us in hand to be ready to make things fly if we find ourselves in a scrape.”

Then both sat silently watching for the other boat while the trim, buoyant little craft dashed on swiftly over the waves as if fully conscious how much depended on her speed, and from out the blackness of night nothing was seen to cause alarm. If the pursuers kept straight on, then they had surely given them the slip, but if they put about in anticipation of such a maneuver it became a question of which was the best sailer.