But I wish this was a rifle in place of a musket." He picked up the musket and took aim.

When he fired the leading rower on the right hand side of the pursuing boat dropped back, and the boat was instantly in confusion.

White laid down the musket and seized the oar again.
"Now, Ned," he exclaimed, "if we pull as hard as we can and a little harder, we'll lose them!" The boat, driven by the oars and the wind, sprang forward.

Fortune, as if resolved now to favor fugitives who had made so brave a fight against overwhelming odds, piled the clouds thicker and heavier than ever over the bay.

The little boat was completely concealed from its pursuers.
Another gun boomed from San Juan de Ulua, and both Ned and Obed saw its flash on the parapet, but, hidden under the kindly veil of the night, they pulled straight ahead with strong arms.