Part 18 (1/2)
Archie Ar did not know until they ell started that Bill o' Burnt Bay was a marked man in Saint Pierre There was no price on his head, to be sure, but he was answerable for several offenses which would pass current in St John's for assault and battery, if not for assault with intent to maim or kill (which Bill had never tried to do)--all co and wild and loved a ruction better than a prayer- by stealth--a wise precaution, as it appeared to Archie So in three days they were at La Maline, a s harbour on the south coast of Newfoundland, and a port of call for the Placentia Bay mail-boat The Iles Saint Pierre et Miquelon, the remnant of the western empire of the French, lay some twenty miles to the southwest, across a channel which at best is of uncertain ray clouds as it had been Archie's lot to venture out upon
Bill o' Burnt Bay had picked up his ideal of a craft for the passage--a skiff so cheap and rotten that ”'twould be small loss, sir, if she sank under us” And the skipper was in a roaring good huh that wilderness of crested seas; and big Josiah Cove, who had been taken along to help sail the _Heavenly Holowing expectation--in particular, that expectation which concerned an encounter with a gendar but words upon a former occasion
As for Archie, at tiler, and capped himself in fancy with a red turban, at times like a pirate
They ht, with the wind blowing half a gale from the east They had no ht precipitate e disclosures; so they ran up the harbour as inconspicuously asa covert lookout for the skinny old craft which they had co in as they proceeded, added its shelter to that of the night; and they dared toat anchor in the isolation of governeous circuside, skipper,” said Josiah
”'Tis a bit risky, Josiah, b'y,” said Skipper Bill ”But 'twould be good--now, really, 'twould--'twould be good t' tread her old deck for a spell”
”An' lay a hand to her wheel,” said Josiah, with a side wink so broad that the darkening mist could not hide it
”An' lay a hand to her wheel,” repeated the skipper ”An' lay a hand to her wheel!”
They ran in--full into the lee of her--and rounded to under the stern
The sails of the skiff flapped noisily and the water slapped her sides They rested breathless--waiting an event whichBut no disquieting sound came from the schooner--no startled excla of the anchor chain and the rattle of the blocks aloft A schooner loomed up and shot past like a shadow; then silence
Archie gave a low hail in French There was no response from the _Heavenly Ho forth an answering sound It was all silent and dark aboard So Skipper Bill reached out with the gaff and drew the boat up the lee side He chuckled a bit and shook himself It seereat ht the rail, leaped from the skiff like a cat and rolled over on the deck of his own schooner
They heard the thud of his fall--a hter--then the soft fall of his feet departing aft For a long ti occurred to inform them of what the skipper was about
They strained their ears In the end they heard a muffled cry, which see--a thud, as though co more
”What's that?” Archie whispered
”'Tis a row aboard a Frenchman t' win'ard, sir,” said Josiah ”'Tis a skipper beatin' a 'prentice They does it a wonderful lot”
Five n of the skipper Then he ca on the deck There was no concealment
”I've trussed up the watchman!” he chortled
Archie and Josiah clambered aboard
CHAPTER XVII
_In Which Bill o' Burnt Bay Finds Hi Discovers That Reality is Not as Diverting as Romance_
To be sure, Bill o' Burnt Bay had overco observed before he could withdraw, he had leaped upon this functionary with resistless ied him, trussed him like a turkey cock and rolled hi been apprised of the capture No cry of surprise rang out--no call for help--no hullabaloo of pursuit The lights of the old toinkled in the foggy night in undisturbed serenity
The night was thick, and the wind swept furiously up from the sea It would be a dead beat to ard to h a rock-strewn channel in a rising gale
”Noe got her,” Skipper Bill laughed, ”what'll we do with her?”