The _Madrona_ was moving to the south of the island, and standing in
towards the mouth of the slough. One of the new-comers saw the
search-light.

"They'll be upon us in half an hour," Tom could hear him say; "we must
steer around the point, and get up the slough, where a vessel of such
deep draught as theirs cannot follow us. We'll he done for if we stay
here."

The voice seemed familiar, but the boy was too excited to give the fancy
a second thought. What he saw, only too plainly, was the easy way in
which the supposed smugglers could make their escape, and, laying
prudence aside, he instantly called out in what he intended to be a very
commanding voice,

"Ahoy there! you can't go aboard till you say who you are, and what you
are doing here."

Hardly were the words spoken when Tom saw a bright red flash, and was
almost stunned by a loud report. He heard the crash of a rifle bullet
through the branches behind him, and heard the echoes running along the
opposite shores, growing fainter and fainter in the distance.

The shot was instantly returned, and there was a quick sharp cry from
the rocks. He turned and saw Jo at his side, lowering the gun from his
shoulder.

The next moment he heard a rustle in the trees near him, and hardly
thinking of the peril in which he was throwing himself, he turned in
swift pursuit. He struck the trail almost at once, and still heard the
same odd rustle a short distance ahead of him.

He guided himself as well as he could in the darkness, often stumbling
over the bared roots, or grazing his head against the low cedar
branches. At times he stopped to listen. It soon became evident that he
was catching up.

The pale light of the early morning was beginning to show dimly through
the trees. The person ahead tripped once or twice, and Tom knew that he
was now almost at hand. The unseen fugitive appeared to be moving with
great difficulty. A moment later the boy heard a heavy fall a few yards
in front of him, and running hastily forward was suddenly met by--a
woman!

At this mishap, speaking for the first time, she uttered a harsh sound
in a deep voice which there was no mistaking.

It was a man then, and not a woman, after all, Tom thought, and in his
heart he blessed the smuggler's awkward disguise, which had allowed him
to catch up.

But the smuggler, in the mean time, had drawn his revolver, and was on
the point of aiming it mercilessly at the unarmed lad, when the latter,