d to the Virginian and the Northerners. All nodded in
affirmation. Then he turned to the two scouts, Thrale and Lyon.

"It's now or never," they said, looking up at the dark skies.

"Then it shall be done," said Adam Colfax firmly. "We can't afford to
delay here any longer, nor can we permit this fort to fall. Our need to
hold Kentucky is scarcely less great than our need to help our
hard-pressed brethren in the east."

Then he turned to the five, in whose valor, skill and fidelity he had
the utmost confidence.

"Do you wish to remain on the _Independence_," he said, "or would you
prefer another place in the fleet?"

Shif'less Sol, the talkative and resourceful, looked at Henry. Tom Ross,
the man of few words but resourceful, also looked at Henry. The gaze of
Long Jim was turned in the same direction, and that of Paul followed. It
was an unconscious revelation of the fact that all always looked upon
Henry Ware as their leader, despite his youth.

"If you don't mind, sir," said Henry Ware to Adam Colfax, "give us a
boat to ourselves, a small one that we can row, and we will advance
somewhere near the head of the fleet."

"The boat will be ready for you in five minutes," said Adam Colfax.
"Whatever you ask we will always give to you, if we can. Meanwhile, I
will get the fleet ready, for I see that the time cometh fast."

He spoke in almost Biblical words. In fact, there was much in Adam
Colfax that made for his resemblance to the heroes of the Old Testament,
his rigid piety, his absolute integrity, his willingness to fight in
what he thought a just cause, his stern joy when the battle was joined,
and his belief--perhaps not avowed--in the doctrine of an eye for an eye
and a tooth for a tooth.

He quickly summoned a small boat, and the five, refreshed and armed,
dropped into it. Then he sent the word throughout the fleet, the
_Independence_ moved up near the head of the column, and they prepared
to force the watery pass.

CHAPTER XIX

THE WATERY PASS

Henry was at the tiller of their boat, and the others pulled on the
oars. Their strong arms soon sent it to a point near the head of the
fleet. On the way they passed the _Independence_ and Adam Colfax.
Adolphe Drouillard and the others waved their hands to them. Paul, as he
rested one hand from his oar, waved in reply, and then put both hands to
the oar again.

All signs were being fulfilled. The darkness was increasing, and it was
more than that of