y did, for by this time they had evidently realized who I was, and
their whole attention was fixed on preventing my escape. They were
rowing towards me with tremendous energy, the officer in charge
half standing up in the stern and encouraging them to still fiercer
efforts.

Putting every ounce I could into my stroke, I set off down stream. It
was just a question as to whether I could clear them, and I doubt if
any winner of the Diamond Sculls could have shoved that dinghy along
much faster than I did for the next few seconds. Nearer and nearer we
drew to each other, and for one instant I thought that I had done the
trick. Then from the corner of my eye I saw the cutter fairly leap
forward through the water, and the next moment, with a jolt that
almost flung me out of the seat, she bumped alongside.

Dropping his oar, one of the men leaned over and grabbed hold of my
gunwale.

"No go, Mister," he observed breathlessly. "You got to come along with
us."

The words had hardly left his lips when with a wild shout the officer
in charge leaped to his feet.

"Look out, there!" he yelled. "Port, you fools! Port your helm!"

I swung round, and got a momentary glimpse of a sharp white prow with
a great fan of water curling away each side of it, and then, before I
could move, there came a jarring, grinding crash, mixed with a fierce
volley of shouts and oaths.

CHAPTER XXIII

IN THE NICK OF TIME

My impressions of what happened next are a trifle involved. Something
hit me violently in the side, almost knocking me silly, while at the
same moment the boat seemed to disappear from beneath me, and I was
flying head first into the water. I struck out instinctively as I
fell, and came to the surface almost at once. I just remember a
blurred vision of floating wreckage, with something white rising up in
front of me. Then a rope came hurtling through the air, and caught me
full in the face. I clutched at it wildly, and the next thing I knew I
was being dragged violently through the water and hauled in over the
side of the launch.

It was all over so quickly that for a moment I scarcely realized what
had happened. I just lay where I was, gasping for breath, and spitting
out a large mouthful of the Thames which I had unintentionally
appropriated. Above the throbbing of the engine and the swish of the
screw I could still hear a confused medley of shouts and curses.

With an effort I sat up and looked about me. We had a