leapt aboard.
Green and Jones had come up from the other side. The superintendent gave
a whispered order, and the other three ranged themselves around a small
deck cabin, while he thrust open the door and entered. It was quite dark
within, and a smell of stale tobacco smoke met his nostrils.

He stood still and lit a match, holding himself in readiness for
anything. A figure was dozing in a chair at the other side of the cabin.
Foyle crossed stealthily and quietly encircled the man around the waist,
pressing his arms to his side with all his strength. The man, suddenly
awakened, struggled vigorously.

"Keep still," ordered Foyle, doggedly maintaining his hold. "Hi, Green,
Wrington! Give me a hand here, will you?"

CHAPTER XXXIV

Powerful as he was and with his prisoner at a disadvantage, Foyle found
it all he could do to maintain his hold until his companions broke
through to his help. Even then it was no easy task, and the fight raged
over the tiny cabin with the police hanging on to their prisoner like
dogs to a wounded bear. No one spoke a word; there was only the quick
panting of struggling men, the shuffling of their footsteps, and now and
again a sharp crash as some piece of furniture overturned. Their very
numbers handicapped the police in that confined space. Hands sometimes
tore at Foyle, sometimes at the prisoner. The superintendent hung on
with the tenacity of a bulldog, until a sudden lurch against the side
brought his head sharply in contact with the boarding. Half dazed, he
involuntarily relaxed his grip. The prisoner tore himself away and
struck out viciously. A man fell heavily. For the fraction of a second a
shadowy figure was indistinctly outlined in the doorway. Almost
simultaneously Foyle, Green, and Wrington flung themselves in pursuit.
They were too late. A soft splash told that the man had taken the only
possible avenue of escape.

"Look lively with those boats. He's gone overboard," yelled Wrington.
"Light up and get close in to the bank."

With the alacrity of men well used to sudden emergencies those
detectives in the boats were at work on the word. One darted to cut off
retreat to the northern bank, though the forbidding parapet of the Tower
made it impossible for any man to land for a hundred yards or more. The
other cruised cautiously among the strings of barges, watching for any
attempt to land on one of them.

The superintendent had dashed to the stern of the barge and dro