tain you no longer. Come aboard of us if you can, for we
think we are going to see fun here in the course of a few weeks. Good-by
till I see you again. Shove off, for'ard."

"Julius, I am afraid you talk too much," said Marcy, when the boat was
left out of hearing. "If you don't keep still you may get me into
trouble."

"Look a yere, Marse Marcy," said Julius, "Marse Jack done tol' me it
plum time for me to stan' by to tell what's de troof, an' I ain't done
nuffin else sence he tol' me dat. De Yankees did guv you dat hand, you
done got one brother in de navy, an' dat's all I tol' dat rebel. I
didn't say you a rebel you'self, kase dat would be a plum lie; an' all
de black ones knows it."

At the end of two hours a bend in the shore hid the island and Commodore
Lynch's gunboat from view, and as night was drawing on apace, Marcy
began looking around for a suitable spot in which to tie up for the
night. He knew better than to try to pass Plymouth after dark. The
countersign would be out, and not only would he be obliged to go ashore
to get it, but he would also be compelled to land to _give_ it to every
sentry on the bank. That would be a good deal of trouble and might prove
to be dangerous as well. It would give the soldiers off duty a chance to
board the schooner, and that was something Marcy did not want them to
do. They would go all over her, peeping into every locker and corner,
steal everything they could get into their pockets or put under their
coats, and one of them might accidentally find that Union flag. For
these reasons Marcy thought it best to lie by for the night.

"It will bring us home in broad daylight, Julius, and some of the
servants will be sure to see you when you leave the schooner to take me
ashore," said he. "So the story you made up to tell them about running
away to the swamp, will have to be changed to something else. It would
have to be changed any way, for of course Captain Beardsley saw you when
he ran by us at the mouth of the inlet."

"I been thinkin' 'bout dat," answered Julius, "an' I going to tell
nuffin but de troof. Dat's de bes'. I was stowed away on de schooner,
an' you nevah knowed it till you come off in de mawnin' an' cotch me."

Marcy said nothing more, for he did not believe that either of them
could tell a story that would save them from the trouble that Captain
Beardsley would surely try to bring upon himself and his mother. He
would take Jack's advice and lose no time in