ble--"

Just at that moment the Sweepstakes dashed into the channel that ran
between the shoals and the bluffs on the island, and the burglar forgot
what he was about to say to Tom, and thought only of self-preservation.
They both rushed frantically to the side, and while one of them held
fast to the rail with one hand, and to the valise with the other, his
companion hurriedly divested himself of his pea-jacket, and kicked off
his boots, in preparation for his battle with the waves, which he seemed
to believe was not far distant. The governor was uneasy also. He had
never before attempted to take so large a vessel as the Sweepstakes
through the channel, and he was by no means certain as to the result of
his undertaking. But luck was still in his favor, and, after being
tossed about on the angry waves for ten minutes--it seemed much longer
to the trembling and excited Crusoe men--the schooner glided swiftly
between the rocks at the entrance of the cove, and ran her bowsprit
among the bushes that grew on the bank in front of the cabin. And while
Harry Green and his crew were wondering at her mysterious disappearance,
and telling one another that they had been pursuing a phantom, she lay
snug and safe in the cove, and none the worse for her rough passage
across the shoals.

"Well, I done it, didn't I?" exclaimed the governor, triumphantly. "We're
safe from Harry Green now, an' if it wasn't fur the fuss we had with
them farmers, we could stay here fur a year, an' nobody would be the
wiser fur it. I'll go an' see how Jed is gettin' along."

Sam jumped ashore and ran toward the cabin, and Tom, after he had seen
the schooner made fast to the bank, turned to the robbers and asked:

"What do you think of it now?"

"We think we have seen quite enough of you Crusoe men," was the reply.
"We shall leave you. You can go your way and we'll go ours."

"You'll talk to the governor before you go, won't you?"

"The governor! What do we want to talk to him about?"

"Why, about that money--the thousand dollars, you know."

"Guess not," answered one of the robbers, with a laugh. "Good-by,
captain."

"You are not gone yet," said Tom, to himself. "If I know any thing you
will be glad to come to terms before you are ten minutes older." He
waited until the burglars were out of sight, and then, calling his crew
about him, continued: "Those fellows are trying to cheat us out of their
passage money. They can't find their way out of the c