He had hit upon a shorter path by which to descend, and, rushing forward, plunged into the sea.
Poor little Alice, who at once recognized her father, stretched out her arms towards him, and would certainly have leaped into the sea had she not been forcibly detained by one of the pirates, whose special duty it was to hold her with one hand, while he restrained the violent demonstrations of Corrie with the other.
The father was too late, however.

Already the boat was several yards from the shore, and the frantic efforts he made, in the madness of his despair, to overtake it only served to exhaust him.

When Henry Stuart reached the beach, it was with difficulty he prevented those members of his band who carried muskets from firing on the boat.

None of them thought for a moment, of course, of making the mad attempt to swim towards her.

Indeed, Mr.Mason himself would have hesitated to do so had he been capable of cool thought at the time; but the sudden rush of hope when he heard of his child being near, combined with the agony of disappointment on seeing her torn, as it were, out of his very grasp, was too much for him.