case of hauling her so far inland that she
would be hidden from view by the foliage.

It can well be supposed that we did not waste any time at this last
work; the perspiration was running down our faces in tiny streams when
the craft was finally as far up the narrow water-way as she could be
taken, and then all hands were so exhausted that we threw ourselves on
the deck to regain breath and strength.

All the while that we had been in strenuous flight my father stood at
the helm, thus giving Captain Hanaford the chance to aid us, otherwise
the task would not have been accomplished so quickly.

But even when we were thus snug, unless, perchance, the Britishers
took it into their heads to search the river banks, our work was by no
means done.

It was now necessary that we should know if the enemy went up stream,
and after we had rested no more than five minutes, when a full hour
would have been hardly enough to put me in proper trim again, Darius
said:

"Come, Amos, you an' I will stand the first watch. Bill an' Jerry can
spell us in a couple of hours."

"What do you count on watching?" I asked curtly.

"The Britishers, of course. We'll paddle down to the river, an' lay
there till the fleet goes one way or the other."

It would have been a long watch had we remained on duty until the
entire fleet sailed in one direction; but as to that we were happily
ignorant, and I took my place in the canoe believing the enemy would
sail past our hiding place in a very short time.

We allowed the canoe to drift down the creek until we were come within
a few yards of the river, and then, well hidden by the undergrowth, we
made ourselves as comfortable as possible where we could command a
full view of the channel.

"It doesn't appear to be as easy to get back home as we counted on," I
said, by way of starting a conversation, and Darius replied
confidently:

"This 'ere stop won't put us back very much, though it'll make a power
of extra work, for I count to be slippin' down river within a couple
of hours at the longest."

Then the old man fell silent, and I was not disposed to wag my tongue,
because of looking ahead to the meeting with mother and the children,
which now seemed so near at hand.

We had been on watch an hour or more when the enemy appeared. The
schooner was leading the way slowly, being towed by boats, with the
men taking soundings every fifteen or twenty yards in order to show
the channel to the two frig