They could not understand it; they thought there must be a dozen men behind Harry, and they scattered like sheep.
Of course he had his revolvers, too, but the Arabs had come upon him so suddenly that there had been no chance to draw them.
He did it now in an instant and ran to Harry’s side.
“Make for the boat!” he cried. “You’ve given them the scare! We can do it!”
They ran for dear life, Jack firing as he went.
They seized the gunwale and pushed it off, jumped in, and throwing out their oars, began to pull away.
By this time the pirates had in a measure recovered from their fright.
They began to realize that they had been fooled by one man, and they ran down upon the shore.
It was strange that the fog should lift at that particular moment, but it did.
It showed the pirates the two young men pulling away in their boat.
Just then the sun crept through the mists, its beams striking the gold in the boat.
The pirates saw what they had lost, and began to howl as only a lot of Arabs can.
They threw up their long guns and fired, but the boat was already too far away for that to amount to anything, for Jack and Harry were pulling with all their strength.
“We’re safe,” said Jack. “By Jove, Harry, you did that well! I knew you wouldn’t go back on me, old man.”
“As though I could! I was only watching my chance.”
“And you took it for fair when it came. It takes you to work a thing like that!”
“See, they are making a rush for the other side of the island!”
“After their boat, probably. No matter. There’s the Catamaran; we can surely gain her in time.”
They did, but there was no time to throw away.
Before the boys could get the gold on board and haul up the boat, the pirates were bearing down upon the Catamaran as fast as oars could take them.
For a few moments it looked as if there might be another fight, but the captain got his anchor up, and the Catamaran bore away, driven forward by a fanning breeze.
So by this chance adventure our friends found themselves the richer by many thousands.
Young Jack intended to go through the canal and up the Mediterranean.
His intention was to go to Paris for a time and enjoy himself before returning home to settle down.
Mole and Monday both wanted rest; his wife Clara craved for it.