and fight with those three
armed and unfatigued men, when a faint puff of warm air fanned their
faces.

"Thank God!" exclaimed George fervently, "thank God! there is the first
puff of the land-breeze."

With that he began to fumble with one hand at the lashings of the sail
which lay stretched fore and aft along the thwart beside him, working
his oar with the other hand meanwhile, and after a little difficulty the
knot which secured them was cast loose, and the turns partially thrown
off.

"Now, Tom, you must finish the job," exclaimed George; "you can reach
and throw off the rest of the turns where you sit; the sail is a lug by
the feel of it--at all events, here is a yard of some sort lying
alongside the mast--and when you have cast off the lashings and are
ready to step the mast, say the word, and lay in your oar; then I'll
scull the boat, whilst you step the mast and hoist the sail. Hurrah!
here comes the breeze, hot and strong; get the canvas on her, and at
last we shall be able to enjoy a rest. If those fellows are wise now,
they'll 'bout ship at once, and make for the shore, five minutes hence
it will be blowing fresh, and, if they don't look out, they'll be blown
off the land altogether. Are you ready? Then in oars, step the mast,
and sway away upon the halliards."

So said, so done; Tom tossed in his oar, seized the mast, and stepped
it. The halliards were already bent to the yard--laziness again, the
fishermen evidently having been too indolent to cast them adrift,
knowing that they would only have to bend them on again when next they
wanted to use the sail--and in another minute Tom had the sail
mastheaded, the tack lashed down, and the sheet aft in George's hand;
whilst the latter, sinking down in the sternsheets with a sigh of
ineffable relief, and too tired yet to ship the rudder, steered the boat
with the oar which he had used for sculling, whilst Tom was busied in
the operation of making sail.

The canoe, meanwhile, had crept up to within her own length of the
chase, and oaths and exclamations of mutual encouragement were freely
mingled with peremptory orders to the fugitives to surrender, and
threats of the punishment awaiting them when caught; but no sooner was
the sail set than the boat drew rapidly away, and in ten minutes more
the canoe, with its occupants still paddling furiously out to sea, was
invisible. George confidently expected to be saluted with a parting
shower of bullets, but h