ray,
how chanced you to come across this waterman and his boat?"

"The fact is, Cap'n?" answered Hide laughing, "I have to keep a little
private yacht for my own use. There are certain things, you know, for
which one cannot well use the government ships. This is my friend, Raft
Dolomede. Raft, allow me to present you to my chief, Spite the Spy. You
see, Captain, my American friend has great respect for our community,
although he does not belong to us. He has been brought up on this lake;
is a skillful sailor, willing to obey orders, take his pay and ask no
questions. He runs on his own hook--is a privateersman, in fact, on a
small scale. We understand each other pretty well, and, of course, I
knew where he kept his boat moored. He's not on very good terms with our
cruisers; for, in sooth, he doesn't quite understand our revenue laws. I
fear, now, that it wouldn't do to look closely under these leaves! There
might be something contraband aboard besides these fair Brownies. Hey,
Raft?"

Raft's boat was a home-made affair, but was ingeniously built. Dry
leaves had been gathered into a mass, and fastened together with silken
threads. To this had been added a mast, a sail, a jib and other fixtures
so that the structure was a cross between a raft and a schooner. The
leaves served admirably the varied uses of hull, sails, storerooms, beds
and barricade. They caught the wind and drove the boat along as well as
a ship's canvas. They were soft dry couches for sailors or passengers.
The hollows and crevices between them were the "hold" of the vessel and
gave ample storage.

Raft, the owner of this craft, was a handsome specimen of the family of
water-pixies. He wore a coat of chocolate brown, trimmed with a broad
orange band, and covered with double rows of white buttons. His trousers
were pale red. He was quite at home on the lake with his yacht, and was
such a skillful swimmer that he might really be said to walk on the
water instead of swimming through it.[AC]

"How shall I put her head now?" asked Raft. "We're bearing nor' east by
east, and with this wind will soon strike the cave yonder on the orchard
shore. Shall I keep her so?"

"What say you, Captain?" asked Spite. "What are we to do with these,
now?" pointing to Faith and Sophia.

"The first thing to be done, it seems to me," said Raft, casting a
pitying look upon the nurses, "is to give 'em a little breathing
privilege. If you don't take those rags off their figur