"Do you reckon that ar Bobby Jennings has got loose?" he asked, anxiously.
"If he has, we'd best look out," said Jack Spaniard. "He won't be ketched as easy as he was before. But I didn't hear nothing."
"Well, I did," said Friday. "I heered the rattlin' of a chain, an' the dog a growlin' like he was fightin' something."
The chief waited to hear no more, but, stepping cautiously out of the yawl, he took his stand in front of the door and listened.
There was not a boy in the band who did not believe that their prisoner had succeeded in freeing himself, and that he was at that very moment on the point of leaving the cave. We ought, perhaps, to except Tom Newcombe, who now took no interest whatever in what was going on. He did not care a straw whether the fisher-boy escaped or remained a prisoner, as he had come to the conclusion that he could not belong to a society unless he was allowed to have a hand in the management of its affairs. The other members, however, preferred that Bob should not regain his liberty just then; but, although they well knew what would be the result if he succeeded in getting away from them, there was not one in the band, no, nor two, who would have dared to go into the cave to attempt his recapture. Sam Barton did not feel exactly safe, even on the outside of the door; for, after he had listened a moment, he said, in a whisper:
"Come up around me, fellers, and stick together. If he comes out, don't give an inch."
The words were scarcely out of the governor's mouth when the board that concealed the door was removed, and the fisher-boy crawled slowly out of the cave, only to fall into the arms of his rival.
"Hold him down, lads," said the chief, as Bob struggled furiously with his captors. "What's this yere he's got in his hand? A hatchet? Friday, take it away from him! An' you, Xury, go into the cave an' fetch out that rope. You were tryin' to get away, were you, Bobby Jennings? We'll fix you this time. It beats all the world how he got by that ar dog."
"Why, he's killed him," exclaimed Xury, who, on going into the cave after the rope, stumbled over the body of Sam's favorite. "If he aint as teetolly dead as a smoked herring, I hope I may never take another passenger across this harbor."