"Not so fast!" he sang out, and caught him by the arm.
"Yo' can't hole me!" stormed the burly fellow, and tried to twist himself loose. But, before he could break away, Captain Starr was at hand, quickly followed by Tom and Hans.
"Vot's der madder, vos he a robber?" asked Hans. "Schoot him der sphot on!"
"Git back, dar, I'se a dangerous coon!" ejaculated the burly negro, and suddenly produced a big revolver of the old civil war kind. "Don't dare lay han's on me ag'in!"
At the sight of the pistol, all fell back, and in a twinkling the negro was over the side and running for the nearest patch of woods.
"Let us go after him," said Dick, and the others agreed. But pursuit was useless, the burly negro was gone. Later they learned that he was Watermelon Pete, the rascal who had gotten into a row at the nearby plantation.
"Are you hurt, Grace?" was Sam's first question after the chase had come to an end.
"No, but that colored man nearly scared the life out of me," she answered, and then told her story.
"I wonder if we'll ever see him again," said Fred.
"Most likely not," answered Dick. But he
