CHAPTER XXXI.
HOW I HELD THE NARROW WAY And so, once again I was pulling for dear life, and now indeed for more than life, with death, and more than death, coming on astern in venomous jerks and vicious leaps.
Carette's soft hands were not equal to work of this kind, and she saw it.
There were but the two oars in the boat.

I bade her hand me hers, and she did it instantly, sliding it along to my rowlock and losing but a single stroke.
The odds were somewhat against us, but not so much as I feared.

For, if I was single-handed against their six oars, their boat was heavier, and carried four armed men in addition to the oarsmen.
But I saw that Brecqhou would be impossible to us, and moreover must prove but a cul-de-sac if we got there, for at best there were but two sick men there, and they could give us no help.

The house indeed might offer us shelter for a time, but the end would only be delayed.

So I edged off from Brecqhou, thinking to run for Havre Gosselin, and then, with senses quickened to the occasion, I saw that Havre Gosselin would serve us no better.
Port es Saies, Grande Greve, Vermandes, Les Fontaines, Port Gorey,--I ran them rapidly through my mind and saw the same objection to all.