and only chance left, I grabbed up my jacket from the grass, and sprang
into the darkness. I had gained a hundred feet before those behind
grasped the meaning of my unexpected flight, and then the tumult of
voices only sent me flying faster, realizing the pursuit. The only open
passage led directly toward the river, and I raced through the black
night down the slope as though all the fiends of hell were after me. I
heard shouts, oaths, but there was no firing, and was far enough ahead to
be invisible by the time I attained the bank. An open barge lay there, a
mere black smudge, and I stumbled blindly across this, dropping silently
over its side into the water. It was not thought, but breathless
inability to attempt more, which kept me there, clinging to a slat on the
side of the barge, so completely submerged in the river, as to be
invisible from above. Swearing fiercely, my pursuers stormed over the
barge, swinging their swords along the edges to be sure I was not there.
One blade pricked me slightly, but I held on, sinking yet deeper into the
stream. I could see the dim outline of heads peering over, but was not
discovered. The same gruff voice which had interrupted the duel broke
through the noise:

"I tell you he turned to the left; I saw him plainly enough. What did you
say the fellow's name was, Grant?"

"How do I know? He called himself Fortesque."

"Sure; the same one Carter was sent out hunting after. Well, he dodged
down there among those coal sheds. That is the only way he could have
disappeared so suddenly. Come on, all of you, except Moore and Cartaret,
and we'll beat the shore."

I heard them scramble across to the bank, but there were sounds also