If they should reach the vessels before the middle one had burst into
flame, he felt that his chances of getting away were small indeed. When
would the flame appear? It might check the pursuers, throw them into
consternation, confuse and delay the pursuit. Would the longed-for blaze
never show itself? And how slowly his gallivat was moving! The rowers
were bending to their work with a will, but six men are but a poor crew
for a vessel of a hundred tons, and the slow progress it was making was
in fact due more to the still ebbing tide than to the frantic efforts of
the oarsmen. The wind was contrary; it would be useless to hoist the
sail. At this rate they would be half an hour or more in reaching the
three grabs anchored nearer the mouth of the harbor. The willing rowers
on their benches could not know how slowly the vessel was moving, but it
was painfully clear to Desmond at the helm; relative to the lights on
shore the gallivat seemed scarcely to move at all.
He called to Fuzl Khan, who left his oar and hurried aft.
"We must make more speed, Fuzl Khan. Release the prisoners' hands; keep
their feet tied, and place them among our party. Don't take an oar
yourself: stand over them ready to strike down any man who mutinies."
The Gujarati grunted and hurried away. Assisted by Surendra Nath, who,
being his companion on the rowing bench, had perforce dropped his oar, he
soon had the prisoners in position. Urging them with terrible threats and
fierce imprecations, he forced them to ply their oars with long steady
strokes.
Pages:
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210
211
212
213
214
215