"Two days passed without the occurrence of any thing unusual, and the night came on which the schooner was expected to return. I divided my attention between the secret path and the offing, and at length a blue light, moving up and down in the darkness, told me that the schooner was approaching. I answered the signal, and stood peering through the darkness to get a glimpse of the approaching vessel, when I heard a rustling behind me, and looking down the path I discovered, to my dismay, a party of armed men approaching, headed by the traitor, who said, in a low voice:
"'It's all right now. Catch that brat before he has time to light the signal of danger, and let the schooner once get into the channel, and we have got them fast.'
"The person spoken of as 'that brat' was myself, and I knew that the salvation of the schooner depended upon my exertions. In an instant I had determined upon my course, and, springing from the cave, I ran toward the rope ladder that led to the basin below, and commenced descending. A moment afterward the mouth of the cave was filled by the burly form of the traitor, who exclaimed:
"'There he is--shoot him!' and, suiting the action to the word, he leveled his pistol and fired. I felt a sharp pain shoot through my shoulder; a faintness seized upon me, and, being unable longer to retain my hold upon the ladder, I disappeared in the basin. My sudden immersion in the cold water revived me, and, being an excellent swimmer, I struck out, intending to climb the cliff on the opposite side, and fire the pile. I exerted myself to the utmost, for I could see by the lights in the mouth of the cave that the traitor and his men were preparing to follow me; but, it seemed, in my hurry and excitement, that I scarcely moved through the water. At length, however, I reached the opposite shore, and after climbing the cliff, (which I did with the utmost difficulty, for my wounded arm was hanging almost useless at my side, and I had not stopped to look for the path,) I ran at the top of my speed toward the pile. The schooner having seen my signal, and supposing, of course, that all was right, was still standing toward the mouth of the channel. A moment more, and I would have been too late.