one of them ol' shacks what muskrat hunters live in,
in the spring an' summer. If them galoots is in there, they're mighty
apt ter come out late at night, when they don't expec' nobody's roun'.
Of course, nacherelly they have some plan about gettin' paid fer little
Lily, an' they ain't a-goin' to stay in hidin' without tryin' to find
out the lay er the land, an' jest how hot the police is on their trail.
My idee is to go an' lay in ambush fer 'em all night. If they don't
come out, we'll explore in the mornin', an' if we don't find 'em hidin'
roun' Beaver Dam, then we'll lay low all day, an' push up the river
to-morrow night. But somehow, I think that's the place they would pick
out to hide in. 'Tain't one person out er a million that would know how
to git through Beaver Dam without gittin' lost, an' I'm a recollectin'
I took Tom Foley through there onct an' that's why I'm goin' there
to-night. I knows it so well, I could go through with my eyes shet.

"Each of us wants his pistol loaded fer keeps, a knife, an' about three
yards er rope he can tie round his waist. Let's have a bite o' supper
right here in my house, an' then we'll start fer the river, but each
feller goin' alone, an' in a different way. Now, remember, no talkin'
to nobody, an' let's all say honor bright, an' cross our hearts three
times ag'in."

Sandy was the first to arrive at the boat-house. Securing the paddles,
he put them into the skiffs and watched for his companions. He had not
long to wait. Gilbert came in a few moments, then Leander, and shortly
afterward, Dink. Not a word was spoken. Sandy motioned Gilbert to sit
in the center seat of the Dolly, while he took his accustomed place at
the stern. Noiselessly they pushed into the stream, followed by Leander
and Dink.

The tide was going out, and had, perhaps, two hours to ebb. The boys
hugged the channel bank on the right, passed under the bridge
unnoticed, and kept on their silent and anxious way, mile after mile.
Finally, Sandy steered into a creek and glided softly against the mud
bank, holding his skiff firmly by driving a paddle into the soft soil.
Leander and Dink followed suit. That they might be screened from any
one coming out of Beaver Dam, which was separated by a narrow strip of
marsh-land, they lay flat on the bottom of their boats.

The night was not especially dark, for the moon was looking through a
mist of hazy clouds. It was bitingly cold, and though the boys became
numb f