After the men had been rowing for an hour, Bob felt a slight breeze springing up from off the land, and said:  
"You may as well get up the sail. It will help you along a bit."
 
The sail was a large one, for the size of the boat; and Bob felt a distinct increase in her pace, as soon as the men began to row again. He could make out the line of the hills against the sky; and had, therefore, no difficulty in keeping the course. They were soon back opposite Marbella, the lights of which he could clearly make out. Little by little the breeze gathered strength, and the rowers had comparatively easy work of it, as the boat slipped away lightly before the wind.
 
"What do you make it--twelve leagues from Marbella to the Rock?"
 
"About that," the man replied. "If the wind holds like this, we shall not be very far from the Rock by daylight. We are going along about a league an hour."
 
"Well, stretch out to it, lads, for your own sakes. I have no fear of a shot from Santa Barbara. The only thing I am afraid of is that we should be seen by any Spanish boats that may be cruising round that side, before we get under shelter of the guns of the Rock."
 
The fishermen needed no warning as to the danger of being caught, and bent again more strongly to their oars. After they had rowed two hours longer, Bob told them to pull the oars in.
 
"You had better have a quarter of an hour's rest, and some supper and a bottle of wine," he said. "You have got your own basket, forward. I will take mine out of this by my side."
 
As their passenger had paid for it, the boatmen had got a very superior wine to that they ordinarily drank. After eating their supper--bread, meat, and onions--and drinking half a bottle of wine, each, they were disposed to look at the situation in a more cheerful light. Two hundred and fifty dollars was certainly well worth running a little risk for. Why, it would make them independent of bad weather; and they would be able to freight their boat themselves, with fish or fruit, and to trade on their own account.
 
They were surprised at the enterprise of this young trader, whom they supposed to be a native of Gibraltar; for Bob thought that it was as well that they should remain in ignorance of his nationality, as they might have felt more strongly that they were rendering assistance to the enemy, did they know that he was English.
 
Hour after hour passed. The wind did not increase in force nor, on the other hand, did it die away. There was just enough to keep the sail full, and take much of the weight of the boat off the arms of the rowers. The men, knowing the outline of the hills, were able to tell what progress they were making; and told Bob when they were passing Estepona. Two or three times there was a short pause, for the men to have a draught of wine. With that exception, they rowed on steadily.
 
"It will be a near thing, senor," one of them said, towards morning. "The current counts for three or four miles against us. If it hadn't been for that, we should certainly have done it. As it is, it is doubtful."
 
"I think we are about a mile off shore, are we not?" Bob asked. "That is about the distance I want to keep. If there are any cruisers, they are sure to be further out than that; and as for Santa Barbara, if they see us and take the trouble to fire at us, there is not much chance of their hitting such a mark as this, a mile away. Besides, almost all their guns are on the land side."
 
The men made no reply. To them, the thought of being fired at by big guns was much more alarming than that of being picked up by a cruiser of their own nation; although they saw there might be a good deal of difficulty in persuading the authorities that they had taken part, perforce, in the attempt to get fruit into the beleaguered garrison. Daylight was just beginning to break, when one of the fishermen pointed out a dark mass inshore, but somewhat ahead of them.
 
"That is Santa Barbara," he said.
 
They had already, for some time, made out the outline of the Rock; and Bob gazed anxiously seaward but could, as yet, see no signs of the enemy's cruisers.
 
"Row away, lads," he said. "They won't see us for some time and, in another half hour, we shall be safe."
 
The Spaniards bent to their oars with all their strength, now; from time to time looking anxiously over their shoulders at the fort. Rapidly the daylight stole across the sky, and they were just opposite Santa Barbara when a gun boomed out, and a shot flew over their heads and struck the water, a quarter of a mile beyond them. With a yell of fear, the two Spaniards threw themselves at the bottom of the boat.
 
"Get up, you fools!" Bob shouted. "You will be no safer, down there, than if you were rowing. If a shot strikes her she will be smashed up, whether you are rowing or lying down. If you stay there, it will be an hour before we get out of range of their guns while, if you row like men, we shall get further and further away every minute, and be safe in a quarter of an hour."
 
It was only, however, after he threatened to shoot them, if they did not set to work again, that the Spaniards resumed their oars; but when they did they rowed desperately. Another shot from the fort struck the water a short distance astern, exciting a fresh yell of agony from the men.
 
"There, you see," Bob said; "if you hadn't been sending her faster through the water, that would have hit us.
 
"Ah! They are beginning from that sloop, out at sea."
 
This was a small craft that Bob had made out, as the light increased, a mile and a half seaward. She had changed her course, and was heading in their direction.
 
Retaining his hold of his pistols Bob moved forward, put out a spare oar, and set to to row. Shot after shot came from the fort, and several from the sloop; but a boat, at that distance, presents but a small mark and, although a shot went through the sail, none struck her. Presently a gun boomed out ahead of them, high in the air; and a shot fell near the sloop, which at once hauled her wind, and stood out to sea.
 
"We have got rid of her," Bob said, "and we are a mile and a half from the fort, now. You can take it easy, men. They won't waste many more shot upon us."
 
Indeed, only one more gun was fired by the Spaniards; and then the boat pursued her course unmolested, Bob returning to his seat at the helm.
 
"They will be on the lookout for us, as we go back," one of the Spaniards said.
 
"They won't see you in the dark," Bob replied. "Besides, as likely as not they will think that you are one of the Rock fishing boats, that has ventured out too far, and failed to get back by daylight."
 
Once out of reach of the shot from the fort, the sailors laid in their oars--having been rowing for more than ten hours--and the boat glided along quietly, at a distance of a few hundred feet from the foot of the cliff.
 
"Which are you going to do?" Bob asked them; "take fifty dollars for your fish, or sell them for what you can get for them?"
 
The fishermen at once said they would take the fifty dollars for, although they had collected all that had been brought in by the other fishermen--amounting to some five hundred pounds in weight--they could not imagine that fish, for which they would not have got more than ten dollars--at the outside--at Malaga, could sell for fifty at Gibraltar.
 
As they rounded Europa Point there was a hail from above and, looking up, Bob saw Captain O'Halloran and the doctor.
 
"Hulloa, Bob!"
 
"Hulloa!" Bob shouted back, and waved his hat.
 
"All right, Bob?"
 
"All right. I have got thirty boxes!"
 
"Hurrah!" the doctor shouted, waving his hat over his head. "We will meet you at the New Mole.
 
"That is something like a boy, Gerald!"
 
"It is all very well for you," Captain O'Halloran said. "You are not responsible for him, and you are not married to his sister."
 
"Put yourself in the way of a cannonball, Gerald, and I will be married to her a week after--if she will have me."
 
His companion laughed.
 
"It is all very well, Teddy; but it is just as well, for you, that you did not show your face up at the house during the last three days. It is not Bob who has been blamed. It has been entirely you and me, especially you. The moment she read his letter, she said at once that you were at the bottom of it, and that it never would have entered Bob's mind to do such a mad thing, if you had not put him up to it; and of course, when I came back from seeing you, and said that you admitted that you knew what he was doing, it made the case infinitely worse. It will be a long time before she takes you into favour again."
 
"About an hour," the doctor said, calmly. "As soon as she finds that Bob has come back again, with the fruit; and that he has as good as saved the lives of scores of women and children; she will be so proud of him that she will greet me as part author of the credit he has gained--though really, as I told you, I had nothing to do with it except that, when I saw that Bob had made up his mind to try, whether I helped him or not, I thought it best to help him, as far as I could, to get away.
 
"Now, we must get some porters to carry the boxes up to your house, or wherever he wants them sent.
 
"Ah! Here is the governor. He will be pleased to hear that Bob has got safely back."
 
Captain O'Halloran had, when he found Bob's letter in his room on the morning after he had left, felt it his duty to go to the town major's office to mention his absence; and it had been reported to the general, who had sent for Gerald to inquire about the circumstances of the lad's leaving. Captain O'Halloran had assured him that he knew nothing, whatever, of his intention; and that it was only when he found the letter on his table, saying that he had made up his mind to get beyond the Spanish lines, somehow, and to bring in a boatload of oranges, for the use of the women and children who were suffering from scurvy, that he knew his brother-in-law had any such idea in his mind.
 
"It is a very gallant attempt, Captain O'Halloran--although, of course, I should not have permitted it to be made, had I been aware of his intentions."
 
"Nor should I, sir," Captain O'Halloran said. "My wife is, naturally, very much upset."
 
"That is natural enough," the governor said. "Still, she has every reason to be proud of her brother. A man could risk his life for no higher object than that for which Mr. Repton has undertaken this expedition.
 
"How do you suppose he got away?"
 
"I have no idea, sir. He may have got down by ropes, from the back of the Rock--the way the deserters generally choose."
 
"Yes; but if he got down without breaking his neck, he would still have to pass our line of sentries, and also through the Spaniards."
 
"He is a very good swimmer, general; and may have struck out, and landed beyond the Spanish forts. Of course, he may have started from the Old Mole, and swam across to the head of the bay. He is sure to have thought the matter well out. He is very sharp and, if anyone could get through, I should say Bob could. He speaks the language like a native."
 
"I have heard of him before," the governor said, smiling. "Captain Langton told us of the boy's doings, when he was away in that privateer brig; and how he took in the frigate, and was the means of the brig capturing those two valuable prizes, and how he had swam on board a Spanish sloop of war. He said that no officer could have shown greater pluck, and coolness.
 
"I sincerely hope that no harm will come to him; but how--even if he succeeds in getting through the Spanish lines--he can manage, single handed, to get back here in a boat, is more than I can see. Well, I sincerely trust that no harm will come to him."
 
As the governor, with two or three of his staff, now came along, Captain O'Halloran went up to him.
 
"I am glad to say, sir," he said, "that young Repton has just returned, and that he has brought in thirty cases of fruit."
 
"I am extremely glad to hear it, Captain O'Halloran," the governor said, warmly. "When it was reported to me, an hour since, that the Spanish fort and one of their cruisers were firing at a small boat, that was making her way in from the east, the thought struck me that it might be your brother-in-law.
 
"Where is he?"
 
"He is just coming round to the Mole, sir. Doctor Burke and myself are going to meet him."
 
"I will go down with you," the governor said. "Those oranges are worth a thousand pounds a box, to the sick."
 
The party reached the Mole before the boat came in; for after rounding the Point she had been becalmed, and the fishermen had lowered the sail and betaken themselves to their oars again. Bob felt a little uncomfortable when, as the boat rowed up to the landing stairs, he saw General Eliott, with a group of officers, standing at the top. He was relieved when, on ascending the steps, the governor stepped forward and shook him warmly by the hand.
 
"I ought to begin by scolding you, for breaking out of the fortress without leave; but I am too pleased with the success of your venture, and too much gratified at the spirit that prompted you to undertake it, to say a word. Captain O'Halloran tells me that you have brought in thirty cases of fruit."
 
"Yes, sir. I have ten cases of oranges, and twenty of lemons. I propose, with your permission, to send half of these up to the hospitals, for the use of the sick there. The others I intend for the use of the women and children of the garrison, and townspeople. Doctor Burke will see for me that they are distributed where they will do most good."
 
"Well, my lad, I thank you most cordially for your noble gift to the troops; and there is not a man here who will not feel grateful to you, for the relief it will afford to the women and children. I shall be very glad if you will dine with me, today; and you can then tell me how you have managed what I thought, when I first heard of your absence, was a sheer impossibility.
 
"Captain O'Halloran, I trust that you and Mrs. O'Halloran will also give me the pleasure of your company, at dinner, today."
 
"If you please, sir," Bob said, "will you give these two boatmen a pass, permitting them to go out after dark, tonight. I promised them that they should not be detained. It is of the greatest importance to them that they should get back before their absence is discovered."
 
"Certainly," the governor said; and at once ordered one of the officers of the staff to see that the pass was given; and orders issued, to the officers of the batteries, to allow the boat to pass out in the dark, unquestioned.
 
As soon as the governor walked away, with his staff, Bob was heartily greeted by Captain O'Halloran and the doctor.
 
"You have given us a fine fright, Bob," the former said, "and your sister has been in a desperate way about you. However, now that you have come back safe, I suppose she will forgive you.
 
"But what about all those fish? Are they yours? Why, there must be half a ton of them!"
 
"No; the men say there are five or six hundred pounds.
 
"Yes, they are mine. I thought of keeping a few for ourselves, and dividing the rest between the ten regiments; and sending them up, with your compliments, to their messes."
 
"Not with my compliments, Bob; that would be ridiculous. Send them up with your own compliments. It will be a mighty acceptable present. But you had better pick out two or three of the finest fish, and send them up to the governor.
 
"Now then, let us set to work. Here are plenty of porters but, first of all, we had better get ten men from the officer of the guard here; and send one off, with each of the porters with the fish, to the regiments--or the chances are that these baskets will be a good bit lighter, by the time they arrive there, than when they start. I will go and ask the officer; while you are getting the fish up here, and divided."
 
In a quarter of an hour the ten porters started, each with about half a hundredweight, and under the charge of a soldier. The doctor took charge of the porters with the fifteen boxes of fruit, for the various hospitals; and then--after Bob had paid the boatmen the two hundred and fifty dollars due to them, and had told them they would get the permit to enable them to sail again, as soon as it became dark--he and Captain O'Halloran started for the house, with the men in charge of the other fifteen boxes, and with one carrying the remaining fish--which weighed about the same as the other parcels.
 
"How did you and the doctor happen to be at Europa Point, Gerald?" Bob asked, as they went along.
 
"The doctor said he felt sure that whenever you did come--that is, if you came at all--you would get here somewhere about daylight; and he arranged with the officer in charge of the upper battery to send a man down, with the news, if there was a boat in sight. Directly he heard that the Spaniards were firing at a boat, he came over and called me; and we went round to the back of the Rock. We couldn't be sure that it was you from that height but, as we could make out the boxes, we thought it must be you; and so walked down to the Point, to catch you there."
 
"Does Carrie know that a boat was in sight?"
 
"No, I wouldn't say anything to her about it. She had only just dropped off to sleep, when I was called. She woke up, and asked what it was; but I said that I supposed I was wanted on duty, and she went off again before I was dressed. I was glad she did, for she hadn't closed her eyes before, since you started."
 
Carrie was on the terrace when she saw Bob and Gerald, followed by a procession of porters, coming up the hill. With a cry of joy she ran down into the house, and out to meet them.
 
"You bad boy!" she cried, as she threw her arms round Bob's neck. "How could you frighten us so? It is very cruel and wicked of you, Bob, and I am not going to forgive you; though I can't help being glad to see you, which is more than you deserve."
 
"You mustn't scold him, Carrie," her husband said. "Even the governor didn't scold him; and he has thanked him, in the name of the whole garrison, and he has asked him to dine with him; and you and I are to dine there too, Carrie. There is an honour for you! But what is better than honour is that there isn't a woman and child on the Rock who won't be feeling deeply grateful to Bob, before the day is over."
 
"Has he really got some fruit?"
 
"Yes. Don't you see the boxes, Carrie?"
 
"Oh, I saw something coming along, but I didn't see anything clearly but Bob. What are these boxes--oranges?"
 
"Oranges and lemons--five of oranges and ten of lemons--and there are as many more that have gone up to the hospital, for the use of the men.
 
"There, let us see them taken into the storeroom. You can open two of them at once, and send Manola off with a big basket; and tell her to give half a dozen of each, with your love, to each of the ladies you know. The doctor will take charge of the rest, and see about their division among all the women on the Rock. It will be quite a business, but he won't mind it."
 
"What is all this--fish?"
 
"Well, my dear, you are to take as much as you want; and you are to pick out two or three of the best, and send them to the governor, with your compliments; and the rest you can divide and send out, with the fruit, to your special friends."
 
"But how has Bob done it?" Carrie asked, quite overwhelmed at the sight of all those welcome stores.
 
"Ah, that he must tell you, himself. I have no more idea than the man in the moon."
 
"It has all been quite simple," Bob said. "But see about sending these things off first, Carrie. Doctor Burke will be here, after he has seen the others taken safely to the hospi............