Chapter 16

THE STRATEGY OF THE CHASE.

Dory Dornwood had accomplished all that he intended by his plan. The pilot of the Missisquoi would not dare to cross the ledges, and it would be necessary for her to go nearly a mile to the southward to get around them. Dory calculated that his manoeuvre had given him two miles the start of the steamer.

Captain Vesey and Pearl Hawlinshed seemed to be holding a consultation. Dory imagined that Pearl was trying to persuade the captain to venture in among the rocks. If so, he was not successful; for the Missisquoi did not come any nearer to the ledge.

"What is she going to do next, Dory?" asked Corny Minkfield, while the boys were waiting for the next move of the steamer.

"That's more than I know," replied Dory, chuckling at the success of his plan. "I think Captain Vesey had enough of getting aground yesterday, and he don't want to spend the day laid up on one of these ledges. I believe the steamer would go over Champion Rock all right; but her captain is shy, and I don't think he will come any nearer than he is now."

Dory had headed the Goldwing to the east. As he had predicted, the wind was increasing, and the schooner carried quite a bone in her teeth. It looked a little like a game of chess, where each player has to wait a long time for the other to make his move. The captain and his passenger appeared to be still engaged in the discussion in the bow of the boat. Dory thought he could quicken their movements; and, hauling in his sheets, he stood to the south.

"There she goes!" exclaimed Thad, as the steamer started her propeller again.

"I think we can keep her moving," replied Dory. "She will go to the southward as fast as we do, to head us off. We can play this game as long as she can."

"But who wants to stay here all day fooling with that steamer?" said Corny.

"I don't know that we have any thing better to do," added Dick Short. "We have got enough to eat to last us all day."

"I think we shall have some variety in this thing. Captain Vesey has to deliver the Missisquoi to her new owner to-night, and he can't stay here much after noon," replied Dory.

In fifteen minutes the steamer was well to the southward of Champion Rock, and began to turn to the eastward.

"She is coming around to pick us up on this side of the rocks," said Thad.

"That's all right, but she won't pick us up," answered Dory. "I am afraid it will get very monotonous before she overhauls us by her present tactics."

Dory put the boat about, and stood to the north. He continued on this tack until the Missisquoi was directly south of Stave Island, and of both ledges, which were in a line with the island. She had gone half a mile farther to the southward than was necessary to avoid Champion Rock; but her pilots were not well posted, and they seemed to be determined to keep on the safe side.

The skipper waited until the steamer was half a mile to the eastward of the ledges, and then he proceeded to beat across the dangerous ground. He took a southerly tack first, so as to bother the pilot of the steamer as to his intentions. The Missisquoi kept on her course, and Pearl was evidently bothered.

The pursuer had not thought there could be any difficulty in capturing the owner of the Goldwing when he had a steamer to use in chasing her. He had found out his mistake. The captain and engineer had not earned their five dollars apiece yet, for they had not put the passenger on board of the schooner. Doubtless they were continuing the chase for the purpose of obtaining their money, for the boys were satisfied that Captain Vesey had no other interest in the pursuit.

As the Missisquoi put her helm to starboard, in order to run to the north, Dory tacked the schooner, and stood off to the north-east. This course would carry him directly over Stave Island Ledge. The effect of this move was soon apparent, for the steamer stopped her screw again. Her pilots could see that it was useless to go any farther on her present course. By the time she got a mile farther, the Goldwing would be on the other side of the ledges. Another discussion seemed to be in progress between the captain and the passenger. But it was not continued long; for the Missisquoi put about, and stood to the westward.

"She has got enough of that," said Thad. "I don't believe she will keep it up much longer."

"It is cool and comfortable here, and I think we can stand this sort of thing as long as she can," added Dory.

"Of course we can; but the game is ended, and the Missisquoi is going back to Plattsburgh," suggested Corny.

"The game is not ended yet," replied Dory: "in fact, it has but just begun."

"What's the reason it isn't ended?" demanded Corny, who did not like to have his conclusions disputed. "What is the steamer going off in that direction for, if there is to be any more fun?"

"Is that the way to Plattsburgh, Corny?" asked Dory quietly.

"She has gone off and left us, whether she is bound to Plattsburgh or not. If she means to catch us, why don't she stick to it?" continued Corny.

"She is sticking to it. The way to catch a pigeon is to put salt on his tail, you know," answered Dory, laughing. "She is beginning to play her game now. If she had gone to the north-west, instead of to the west, I might believe she had given it up; and I should be ready to head the Goldwing for Burlington as soon as I saw her to the eastward of Valcour's Island."

"What do you think she means to do, Dory?" asked Thad.

"I am very clear what she means to do. I wouldn't give anybody two cents to write it down for me," replied the skipper confidently. "She has gone to the west so that she can coax us out from these ledges. If she could get us away from these dangers, where she could chase us, she would soon be up with us."

"There are plenty of rocks and shoals south of us," suggested Thad.

"But there are buoys on them, and a hundred feet of water between them. Very likely Captain Vesey knows his way among them. We can very soon see whether she has given up the chase or not," said Dory, as he put the boat about, and headed her to the south.

"Are you going to run for Burlington, Dory?" asked Corny.

"We are headed in that direction now," replied the skipper.

"But the steamer does not change her course," continued Corny.

"And she won't change her course until we have gone a couple of miles farther to the southward. They are getting smart on board of the Missisquoi," added Dory, like one who is driving a winning horse.

All hands watched the steamer very closely, and Corny would have given something handsome to have it made out that Dory was mistaken in his calculations. He was loyal to the skipper, but he did not like to have statements of the latter prove true every time. The steamer did not change her course, but she did not seem to get ahead very fast.

In half an hour the Goldwing was off Colchester Reef Light. The Missisquoi was still headed to the west; and Corny was beginning to feel triumphant, though he was not confident enough to say much. The steamer was three miles distant; but Dory was satisfied by this time that she had stopped her propeller, and was only waiting for the schooner to get a little farther to the southward, where she could not dodge in among the dangerous rocks.

"She is coming about!" shouted Thad.

"It is about time for her to do something," replied Dory. "But she is not coming down this way."

"How do you know she isn't, Dory Dornwood?" demanded Corny, who was rather indignant when the skipper made another prediction.

"I think I understand her little game," answered Dory mildly; for he felt that he could afford to disregard the sharp tones of Corny.

"Where is she going?" asked Corny, wishing to make the skipper commit himself fully.

"She is going to the eastward," replied Dory without any hesitation; for it was all a plain case to him.

"How do you know she is, Dory?" demanded Corny. "She is still turning; and she isn't headed any way yet."

"I think it is easy enough to see what she is about, Corny. Can't you see it with your eyes shut?"

"No: I'm sure I can't; and I don't believe you can, Dory Dornwood," added Corny.

"She is now just as far west of Champion Rock as we are south of it. She is going to the eastward, so as to cut us off if we try to reach the ledges again. I think she has got her course now."

It was plain enough to all the members of the Goldwing Club, that, as they could see the whole of the starboard side of the Missisquoi, she was headed to the eastward. Corny gave it up when he saw that he could hold out no longer. From the smoke that poured out of the smoke-stack of the little steamer, it was plain that she was crowded to her best speed.

"She is in a hurry now," said the skipper, laughing.

"She is going to do a big thing now," added Thad. "She is going to catch us, sure."

"But I think we had better be doing something," continued the skipper, as he put the Goldwing before the wind.

"What are you going to do now, Dory?" asked Corny.

"That will depend upon circumstances," replied Dory, who suddenly appeared to be disposed to keep his own counsel.

As soon as the schooner was up with the light-house, the skipper hauled in his sheets again, and headed the Goldwing to the north-east. This course seemed to bother the steamer, for it made it evident that the boat did not intend to go near Champion Rock.

"She's after you again," said Corny a few minutes later. "She has altered her course, and is coming down this way to head you off."

"All right! Let her come," replied Dory.

"But we are getting pretty close together," added Thad. "She is going to catch us this time. At least, I am afraid she is."

"Don't worry about it, Thad. She isn't going to catch us on this tack."

The Missisquoi was coming in between Hog's Back Island and the reef of the same name. She kept the red buoy on her starboard, and the black on her port hand. She was hardly more than a quarter of a mile from the Goldwing, and running for a point ahead of her. It began to be very exciting for the boys, for they believed she would overtake the schooner in a few minutes more.

But the Goldwing came out just a little ahead; and the steamer was astern of the boat, but not more than a hundred yards. She gained on her every minute, until suddenly the Missisquoi stopped.