was so occupied with it as not to look about him
as he ought to have done at such a distance from home. He was roused at
length by a shout, and looked towards the point from which it came; and
there, in a little harbour of the fiord, a recess which now actually lay
behind him--between him and home--lay a vessel; and that vessel, he knew
by a second glance, was the pirate-schooner.

Of the schooner itself he had no fear, for there was so little wind that
it could not have come out in time to annoy him; but there was the
schooner's boat, with five men in it--four rowing and one steering--
already in full pursuit of him. He knew, by the general air and native
dress of the man at the helm, that it was Hund; and he fancied he heard
Hund's malicious voice in the shout which came rushing over the water
from their boat to his. How fast they seemed to be coming! How the
spray from their oars glittered in the sun, and how their wake
lengthened with every stroke! No spectator from the shore (if there had
been any) could have doubted that the boat was in pursuit of the skiff,
and would snap it up presently. Rolf saw that he had five determined
foes gaining upon him every instant; and yet he was not alarmed. He had
had his reasons for thinking himself safe near Vogel islet; and
calculating for a moment the time of the tide, he was quite at his ease.
As he took his oars he smiled at the hot haste of his pursuers, and at
the thought of the amazement they would feel when he slipped through
their fingers; and then he began to row.

Rolf did not overheat himself with too much exertion. He permitted his
foes to gain a little upon him, though he might have preserved the
distance for as long as his strength could have held out against that of
the four in the other boat. They ceased their shouting when they saw
how quietly he took his danger. They really believed that he was not
aware of being their object, and hoped to seize him suddenly, before he
had time to resist.

When very near the islet, however, Rolf became more active, and his
skiff disappeared behind its southern point while the enemy's boat was
still two furlongs off. The steersman looked for the reappearance of
the canoe beyond the islet; but he looked in vain. He thought, and his
companions agreed with him, that it was foolish of Rolf to land upon the
islet, where they could lay hands on him in a moment; but they could
only suppose he had done this, and prepared