“Plenty o’ water,” he kept on calling out encouragingly.  “Keep ’er goin’, sir, keep ‘er goin’.  Inside that beacon, now up with ’er a bit.  That’s good!”

He discarded the lead and hurried to the anchor.  I swung her round head to wind, Tommy let down the mainsail, and the next moment we brought up with a grace and neatness that would almost have satisfied a Solent skipper.

We were in the very centre of a little muddy creek with high banks on either side of it.  There was no other boat within sight; indeed, although we were within three miles of Tilbury, anything more desolate than our surroundings it would be difficult to imagine.

Mr. Gow assisted us to furl the sails and put things straight generally, and then coming aft addressed himself to me.

“I don’t know what time you gen’lemen might be thinkin’ o’ leavin’; but if you could put me ashore now I could be back inside of the hour.”

“Right you are,” I said.  “I’ll do that straight away.”

We both got into the dinghy, and in a few strokes I pulled him to the bank, where he stepped out on to the mud.  Then he straightened himself and touched his cap.

“I haven’t never thanked you properly yet, sir, for what you done,” he observed.  “You saved my life, and Luke Gow ain’t the sort o’ man to forget a thing like that.”

I backed the boat off into the stream.  “Well, if you’ll save our property from the Tilbury gentlemen,” I said, “we’ll call it quits.”

When I got back to the ship I found Tommy and Joyce making preparations for lunch.

“We thought you’d like something before you pushed off,” said Tommy.  “One can scout better on a full tummy.”

“You needn’t apologize for feeding me,” I replied cheerfully.  “I’ve a lot of lost time to make up in the eating line.”

It was a merry meal, that little banquet of ours in the Betty’s cabin.  The morning’s sail had given us a first-rate appetite, and in spite of the somewhat unsettled state of our affairs we were all three in the best of spirits.  Indeed, I think the unknown dangers that surrounded us acted as a sort of stimulant to our sense of pleasure.  When you are sitting over a powder mine it is best to enjoy every pleasant moment as keenly as possible.  You never know when you may get another.

At last I decided that it was time for me to start.

“I tell you what I think I’ll do, Tommy,” I said.  “I’ll see if there’s any way along outside the sea-wall.  I could get right up to the place then without being spotted, if there should happen to be any one there.”

Tommy nodded.  “That’s the idea,” he said.  “And look here:  I brought this along for you.  I don’t suppose you’ll want it, but it’s a useful sort of thing to have on the premises.”

He pulled out a small pocket revolver, loaded in each chamber, and handed it over to me.

I accepted it rather doubtfully.  “Thanks, Tommy,” I said, “but I expect I should do a lot more damage with my fists.”