The Project Gutenberg EBook of Sentence Deferred, by W.W. Jacobs

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Title: Sentence Deferred
Sailor's Knots, Part 4.

Author: W.W. Jacobs

Release Date: January 22, 2004 [EBook #10784]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SENTENCE DEFERRED ***

Produced by David Widger

SAILORS' KNOTS

By W.W. Jacobs

1909

SENTENCE DEFERRED

[Illustration: "An elderly man with a wooden leg, who joined the
indignant officer in the pursuit."]

Fortunately for Captain Bligh, there were but few people about, and the
only person who saw him trip Police-Sergeant Pilbeam was an elderly man
with a wooden leg, who joined the indignant officer in the pursuit. The
captain had youth on his side, and, diving into the narrow alley-ways
that constitute the older portion of Wood-hatch, he moderated his pace
and listened acutely. The sounds of pursuit died away in the distance,
and he had already dropped into a walk when the hurried tap of the wooden
leg sounded from one corner and a chorus of hurried voices from the
other. It was clear that the number of hunters had increased.

He paused a second, irresolute. The next, he pushed open a door that
stood ajar in an old flint wall and peeped in. He saw a small, brick-
paved yard, in which trim myrtles and flowering plants stood about in
freshly ochred pots, and, opening the door a little wider, he slipped in
and closed it behind him.

"Well?" said a voice, sharply. "What do you want?"

Captain Bligh turned, and saw a girl standing in a hostile attitude in
the doorway of the house. "H'sh!" he said, holding up his finger.

The girl's cheeks flushed and her eyes sparkled.

"What are you doing in our yard?" she demanded.

The captain's face relaxed as the sound of voices died away. He gave his
moustache a twist, and eyed her with frank admiration.

"Escaping," he said, briefly. "They nearly had me, though."

"You had no business to escape into our yard," said the girl. "What have
you been escaping from?"

"Fat policeman," said the skipper, jauntily, twisting his moustache.

Miss Pilbeam, only daughter of Sergeant Pilbeam, caught her breath