Page:Castlemon--Joe Wayring at Home.djvu/365

 That was just what Matt was looking for, and he did not know what to make of it when the skiff dashed by his scow, keeping so far beyond reach that he could not have touched any of her crew with his paddle if he had tried, and deliberately placed herself across his path. Then his eyes were opened to the details of the plan that had been laid to entrap him, and the promptness with which he went to work to extricate himself was surprising. He said a few words in a low tone to his boys, then put his own paddle into the water, and the scow shot ahead with greatly increased speed, never swerving from her original course by so much as a hair's breadth.

"Does the old villain mean to run us down, or does he intend to come alongside and capture us and the skiff?" said Roy, who was alarmed as well as amazed by the squatter's offensive tactics. "Back water, Joe, while I give way. It looks as though we had got to run now."

The scow was so close to them that they had no time to get out of her way. They saw at a glance that all they could reasonably hope to accomplish was to turn their boat slightly, so