"I'll keep her straight for Eel's Gate with _this_.

That was the first bar of the gate; there are only two altogether, and the second won't be so bad." As the captain spoke, the schooner seemed to recover from the shock, and again rushed forward on her foaming course; but before the men had time to breathe, she struck again,--this time less violently, as had been predicted,--and the next wave lifting her over the shoals, launched her into deep water.
"There, that will do," said Gascoyne, resigning the helm to Scraggs.
"You can keep her as she goes: there's plenty of water now, and no fear of that big bully following us.

Meanwhile, I will go below, and see to the welfare of our passengers." Gascoyne was wrong in supposing that the Talisman would not follow.

She could not indeed follow in the same course; but the moment that Mulroy observed that the pirate had passed the shoals in safety, he stood inshore, and, without waiting to pick up the gig, traversed the channel by which they had entered the bay.

Then, trusting to the lead and to his knowledge of the general appearance of shallows, he steered carefully along until he cleared the reefs, and finally stood out to sea.
In less than half an hour afterwards, the party on shore beheld the two vessels disappear among the black storm-clouds that gathered over the distant horizon..