Read "Stem to Stern" by Oliver Optic online for free on Textopian. Full text with search, annotations, highlights, and AI-powered reading aids.
It was finally decided by the commodore that all the Beech Hill barges should proceed to the head of the bay, and if the ruffians landed with their prisoner, or did not put him in the boat, they should follow them on shore and rescue Paul at all hazards. Oscar Chester gave the word, and the Gildrock dashed off, with the other two barges following her. The crews were not spared, and the boats appeared to leap over the water, which was tolerably smooth under the lee of the land.
The Chesterfield barges still lay near the shore, above the wharf, and in order to avoid them the commodore headed the Gildrock across the bay. In the absence of the spare hand and Dory, the Marian was one oarsman short, and Dick Short missed the stroke very much. The Silver Moon was not more than a quarter of a mile from the wharf, for Dory was showing off the sloop in various points of sailing. Very likely he desired to keep the Beech Hill barges in sight as long as the Chesterfields were near.