Page 506 - for-the-term-of-his-natural-life

CHAPTER XXIV.

IN THE NIGHT.

ohn Rex had put into execution the first part of his
Jscheme.
At the moment when, seeing Burgess’s boat near the
sand-spit, he had uttered the warning cry heard by Vetch,
he turned back into the darkness, and made for the water’s
edge at a point some distance from the Neck. His desperate
hope was that, the attention of the guard being concentrat-
ed on the escaping boat, he might, favoured by the darkness
and the confusion—swim to the peninsula. It was not a
very marvellous feat to accomplish, and he had confidence
in his own powers. Once safe on the peninsula, his plans
were formed. But, owing to the strong westerly wind, which
caused an incoming tide upon the isthmus, it was necessary
for him to attain some point sufficiently far to the south-
ward to enable him, on taking the water, to be assisted, not
impeded, by the current. With this view, he hurried over
the sandy hummocks at the entrance to the Neck, and ran
backwards towards the sea. In a few strides he had gained
the hard and sandy shore, and, pausing to listen, heard
behind him the sound of footsteps. He was pursued. The
footsteps stopped, and then a voice cried—
‘Surrender!’

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