ant. But the
girls, who were bitterly distressed at the idea of so sudden and
unceremonious a leave-taking, would not let them leave the house alone,
to take their chance of finding their way, unmolested, down to the
harbour; they insisted upon accompanying them and guiding them by the
least-frequented ways; and this they did, following a number of narrow,
winding, deserted lanes and alleys which at length brought them out upon
the wharf where they had landed on the ill-fated day when they had
attempted the rescue of Captain Marshall. Here, after a long,
lingering, and tearful parting on the part of the girls, the two young
men eventually found themselves alone, about half-past ten o'clock at
night; by which hour the wharf was deserted, save for themselves.

Now, the whole thing had been so hurried, and the girls had had so much
to say during the journey from the house to the wharf, that the two
friends had been quite unable to form anything in the nature of a plan;
and even now it was not wise to linger on the wharf, discussing the
question of what they should do, for the city guard, or watchmen, might
come along at any moment and surprise them. They therefore hastily
surveyed such boats and canoes as were moored to the wharf, chose the
first useful-looking craft they came to, jumped into her, cut her
painter, and pushed off down the harbour on their way to the island of
Tierra Bomba, which Dick decided had better be their first
halting-place.

The night was, fortunately, fine, with a high and spacious sky of
indigo, star-studded, flecked with a few thin, fleecy clouds driving up
solemnly out of the eastward, and the moon, in her second quarter,
sailing high overhead and affording them all the light that they needed,
with perhaps a little to spare. The boat which they had appropriated
was a very good craft of her kind, about fifteen feet long, very shallow
and beamy, and equipped with a pair of oars, a tiller and rudder, and a
mast and sail. The latter they were especially thankful for, as the
journey before them was one of about seven miles; and as soon as they
were fairly clear of the town and had reached a point at which they
could bear away far enough to the southward to permit of setting the
sail, they stepped their mast, unfurled their canvas, and went buzzing
merrily down the harbour, passing on their way the hulk of the _Santa
Margaretta_, which had been burnt to the water's edge before the flames
could