the Sylph was enough, and the present
attitude of the boy was clearly a surprise to him. It was plain that he
had not thought of the schooner, for he was silent when Dory intimated
that she was not in a safe position for heavy weather.

"You can furl her sails, and throw over her anchor," said he after a
moment's consideration.

"I don't think the anchor will hold her, sir: the sand is as hard as a
rock here."

"Isn't she aground?"

"She was aground, sir."

"I will run the boat ahead, and we will drag her farther up on the
shoal, and carry the anchor to the shore. Then she will be all right;
and you can come up after her in a few days," continued Captain
Gildrock, as he directed his bowman to shove off from the Goldwing.

The sails of the schooner were beginning to thrash and bang about as
they felt the increasing breeze. The boat had been aground at the bow;
but, the moment she was relieved of the weight of the three men who had
been on board of her when she grounded, she floated again. Dory had
noticed this fact; and, taking the boat-hook, he had thrust it down into
the sand, and held her. As the wind freshened, driving her off from the
shore, his hold was not strong enough upon the bottom to keep her any
longer. But it must be added that Dory did not wish to hold her any
longer.

The moment the boat-hook tore out of the bottom, the schooner began to
make sternway. Then the jib, the sheet of which was still fast, filled,
and the Goldwing whirled around like a top. Then a gust of wind struck
the sails, and threw them all over. Dory rushed to the helm, trimmed the
sails, and headed the Goldwing across the bay.

CHAPTER XXVI.

DORY DORNWOOD MANOEUVRES TO ESCAPE.

"What are you about, Theodore?" shouted Captain Gildrock, as the
Goldwing shot away, heeled down to her gunwale under the blast of the
strong wind. "Come about, and run her on the beach."

Dory took no notice of this direction, but grasped the tiller with all
his might; and with the short stick it was all he could do to hold her.
He dropped the centre-board, and stood to the eastward, evidently to
avoid the steam-yacht, which was now giving an occasional turn to her
screw to avoid being driven out into the Gut. The starboard quarter-boat
had just put the detective and his prisoner on board of her.

Captain Gildrock had put the other boat about; and the four oarsmen were
straining their muscles, pulling in the direction the schooner had
ta