reath, and watched. He saw that aloft the light was
pouring through an oblong opening; the latter was formed by the raising
of one of the two doors of the big trap. He had need to hold his
breath; the smallest turn of the lantern would throw the light along
the tunnel, and he would spring into full view of the thieves. His
position would then be desperate, for escape was out of the question.
They had only to drop into their boat and pursue, when his clumsy old
broken sweep would prove no match for a pair of oars. So Chippy held
himself dead still, and watched with fascinated eyes the strong shaft
of light pouring on the boat before him.

Presently a strongly corded bale slid into the light, and was lowered
by a thin rope. The rope was tossed after it, and the same thing
happened with three more bales; and then a pair of legs came into
sight, and a man slid swiftly down a heavy rope which dangled above the
boat.

The man swung himself down, and dropped among the bales. Chippy could
not see his face, but the scout's eye saw the man's hand outstretched
as he balanced himself with a sailor's skill in the swaying boat, and
marked that the little finger was missing.

'I'll stow these, and then give ye a hand wi' the flap,' said the man
in the boat. 'It'll never do to let it down wi' a bang, because of our
friend outside.' And both of them chuckled.

Now was Chippy's chance, while the men were busy with the task of
closing the heavy flap with as little noise as possible. He had been
standing with the sweep in his hand. He began, with the tiniest, the
softest of strokes, to turn his boat round. But his discovery would
have been certain had not the men been so busy with the task of
reclosing the heavy trap. It fell into place with a soft thud, which
echoed along the water-gate, and as it did so Chippy glided into the
open, and turned the nose of his craft down-stream. He now put out all
his strength, sculled a dozen hard, swift strokes, then held his hand,
and floated close beside the wall in the deep shadow.

From this cover he saw the boat glide out and the men give way as they
gained the open stream. They pulled out some distance, and so
skilfully did they use the muffled oars that Chippy scarce caught a
sound.

'Rullocks muffled, too,' thought the scout; and very likely the thieves
had muffled the rowlocks also.

CHAPTER XXIV

ON BOARD THE 'THREE SPIRES'

When the boat was well out from the sh