idly and silently, like Indians on a war
trail, let us make the best of our way down the stream. If any boat is
disabled, let the one ahead of her take her in tow. If fired at, do not
attempt to fire in return, but pull away for our lives. Now shove off."

Away we went. I took the lead, keeping the centre of the river.
Strange as it may appear, I thought much more of the meeting I had just
had with Madeline, of all she had said to me, and of all I had said to
her, or wished that I had said, than of the terrific danger to which we
were exposed. I use the word advisedly. Let any one fancy what it
would be to pass down a channel fifty yards wide, each bank being lined
with four hundred, or, for what I could tell, twice that number of
sharpshooters. The latter hours of the night continued as dark as had
been the earlier part; there was a slight rain, or rather mist, which
increased the obscurity, while the wind had got up, and its low moaning
among the trees assisted to conceal the sound made by the boats as they
clove their way through the water. We had also come up with the flood;
the tide had now turned, and there was a strong current which much
assisted our progress. These circumstances gave me hopes that we might
yet successfully run the gauntlet of our enemies. There was another
circumstance to be dreaded, which might prove fatal to us. Should the
enemy have time to collect any boats and attack us on the river, we
could scarcely hope to cut our way past them as well as the riflemen on
shore. When any great danger is to be incurred, it is a great relief to
be able to speak. This was now denied us, and each man was left to his
own thoughts. Mine, I may say, were not gloomy--very far from it.
Sometimes they were bright and almost joyous. On we went. When I
brought my thoughts back to the present, I could not help feeling that
any moment we might see the flashes of a hundred rifles, and hear their
sharp cracks as they opened on us. We had got to the southern end of
the West Branch, but, as yet, not a sound from the shore had been heard.
We were approaching the narrow reach, on the banks of which Mackey's
Mill is situated. Most of us, I believe, felt an inclination to hold
our breath as we pulled on. The current here was very strong. I kept
as nearly as I could in the centre, the other boats following. I could
just distinguish the dark outline of the building we had before visited
against the sky ahead