nd he
waited, strong as steel in his conviction, capable of withstanding any
strain endurable by the human frame.

The wind blew in puffs, grew wilder, and roared through the willows,
carrying bright sparks upward. Thunder rolled down over the river, and
lightning began to flash. Then the rain fell in heavy sheets, but
not steadily. The flashes of lightning and the broad flares played so
incessantly that Duane could not trust himself out on the open river.
Certainly the storm rather increased the watchfulness of the men on
the bluff. He knew how to wait, and he waited, grimly standing pain and
cramp and chill. The storm wore away as desultorily as it had come,
and the long night set in. There were times when Duane thought he was
paralyzed, others when he grew sick, giddy, weak from the strained
posture. The first paling of the stars quickened him with a kind of wild
joy. He watched them grow paler, dimmer, disappear one by one. A shadow
hovered down, rested upon the river, and gradually thickened. The
bonfire on the bluff showed as through a foggy veil. The watchers were
mere groping dark figures.

Duane, aware of how cramped he had become from long inaction, began
to move his legs and uninjured arm and body, and at length overcame a
paralyzing stiffness. Then, digging his hand in the sand and holding the
plank with his knees, he edged it out into the river. Inch by inch he
advanced until clear of the willows. Looking upward, he saw the shadowy
figures of the men on the bluff. He realized they ought to see him,
feared that they would. But he kept on, cautiously, noiselessly, with a
heart-numbing slowness. From time to time his elbow made a little gurgle
and splash in the water. Try as he might, he could not prevent this. It
got to be like the hollow roar of a rapid filling his ears with mocking
sound. There was a perceptible current out in the river, and it hindered
straight advancement. Inch by inch he crept on, expecting to hear
the bang of rifles, the spattering of bullets. He tried not to look
backward, but failed. The fire appeared a little dimmer, the moving
shadows a little darker.

Once the plank stuck in the sand and felt as if it were settling.
Bringing feet to aid his hand, he shoved it over the treacherous place.
This way he made faster progress. The obscurity of the river seemed to
be enveloping him. When he looked back again the figures of the men were
coalescing with the surrounding gloom, the fires we