Just then the sound of stealthily moving feet came to the boatbuilder's
ears. Don, in his glee, had lost the chance to make so much noise with
his own feet that the other boy could steal softly away undetected.

Without a word, now, the boatbuilder sprang forward. As he advanced, he
heard the running of the uniformed boy plainly enough, and, a moment
later, came in sight.

Now, Jacob Farnum, though not much given to making empty threats, decided
to try the effect of a ruse.

"You! You ahead!" he shouted. "Stop, or I'll send some lead after
you. Do you want me to fire?"

Swift as thought Don Melville, again in pursuit at the rear, yelled:

"Don't mind him, Benson! Scoot! He hasn't any gun."

"If some fairy only would take care of that snake-in-the-grass behind
me!" quivered Mr. Farnum, silently.

Having the uniformed boy plainly in sight, though some hundred or more
feet ahead, Farnum by no means felt like giving up the race. All the
same, the boatbuilder, long out of practice in athletics, was beginning
to feel severely the effects of this chase over rough ground and through
bushes.

"I've got to die or get him!" muttered Farnum, doggedly, between his
teeth. "Oh, for a little light on this cloudy night! If I could be