Carver Kinlay knelt down beside this chest and unlocked it. He
turned over many bundles of papers, and I saw him take out what
appeared to be a roll of bank notes and thrust them into his breast
pocket. He paused suddenly in his work at the hurried return of his
men, and grasped at the box like a miser suddenly surprised.
"The hounds are on us!" exclaimed one excitedly. "They have taken
the boat!" And almost immediately there was a tramp of feet coming
up the cavern, and a blaze of light from several torches shining on
drawn cutlasses.
Kinlay turned with the fury of a wild animal that finds itself
trapped, and stood at bay before a company of blue jackets, who
were headed by the young officer I had twice before met, Lieutenant
Fox of the revenue cutter Clasper.
"In the Queen's name, I arrest you, Carver Kinlay!" said the
officer in a firm, loud voice.
"Not so easily," said Kinlay, who was evidently determined not to
surrender himself without resistance; and planting one foot firmly
on the little bridge which spanned the stream, he drew a large
revolver and pointed it full at the lieutenant's head.
Standing very near to him, in a dark crevice at his right hand, I
saw the movement. I saw Carver's eyes flash in the torchlight, and
just as the click of the trigger sounded I sprang quickly forward
and knocked the man's hand upward.
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