CHAPTER XIII.
WINN'S LONELY CRUISE.
During the half-hour that Winn allowed to elapse before he considered it safe to rise from his recumbent position in the bottom of the skiff, he had ample opportunity to recover his breath, and reflect upon the new situation into which he had been so strangely forced.

At first he fancied that he heard sounds of pursuit, and momentarily expected to be greeted by a stern order from the bank to bring the skiff ashore.

He wondered if a failure to comply would be followed by a rifle-shot, and then began to calculate the chances of being hit in such a case.

But why should he be shot at?
What had he done that he should be arrested, threatened with jail and hanging, and treated like an outlaw generally?
Whom did these men take him for?
and who were they?
By the manner in which they had spoken of a judge, they must represent the law in some way; but why he should be an object of their pursuit puzzled the boy more than a little.
To be sure, he had now laid himself open to the suspicion of being a river thief, by carrying off their skiff.

Would it not be well to return it at once?
He could talk to them, and explain how he happened to be on the island, while still at such a distance from shore as to be beyond their reach.