ing, "Will it do
now?"

Coventry's teeth chattered together as he replied, "Yes; now is the
time."

"Got the money ready?"

"Yes."

"Let us see it."

"When you have done what you promised me."

"That very moment?"

"That very moment."

"Then I'll tell you what you must do. In about an hour go on the new
bridge, and I'll come to you; and, before I've come to you many minutes,
you'll see summut and hear summut that will make a noise in Hillsbro',
and, perhaps, get us both into trouble."

"Not if you are as dexterous as others have been."

"Others! I was in all those jobs. But this is the queerest. I go to it
as if I was going to a halter. No matter, a man can but die once."

And, with these words, he left him and went softly down to the
water-side. There, in the shadow of the new bridge, lay a little boat,
and in it a light-jointed ladder, a small hamper, and a basket of tools.
The rowlocks were covered with tow, and the oars made no noise whatever,
except the scarce audible dip in the dark stream. It soon emerged below
the bridge like a black spider crawling down the stream, and melted out
of sight the more rapidly that a slight fog was rising.

Cole rowed softly past the works, and observed a very faint light
in Little's room. He thought it prudent to wait till this should be
extinguished, but it was not extinguished. Here was an unexpected delay.

However, the fog thickened a little, and this encouraged him to venture;
he beached the boat very gently on the muddy shore, and began his work,
looking up every now and then at that pale light, and ready to fly at
the first alarm.

He took out of the boat a large varnish-can, which he had filled
with gunpowder, and wrapped tightly round with wire, and also with
a sash-line; this can was perforated at the side, and a strong tube
screwed tightly into it; the tube protruded twelve inches from the can
in shape of an S: by means of this a slow-burning fuse was connected
with the powder; some yards of this fuse were wrapt loosely round the
can.

Cole crept softly to the engine-chimney, and, groping about for the
right place, laid the can in the engine bottom and uncoiled the fuse. He
took out of his pocket some small pieces of tile, and laid the fuse dry
on these.

Then he gave a sigh of relief, and crept back to the boat.

Horrible as the action was, he had done all this without much fear, and
with no remorse, for he was used to this sort of work; but now