The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1892-09-27

sfore dem comes We mus left FER drift,
tell dem passes"
The night-hush over the river was cut
by signal whistle, near, below, an
swered bv another close behind, then
still third, far away.
"There are SEVERAL" the girl said,
anxiously. ssCan we not cross before
.the1n?"
s.Not 'thout rowin' hard" the negro
answered. "Den dem nd hear us an
shoot, sholy. We's got ter drift an
wait. Be reddy ter kiver wen Pete
gibs de motion"
He unshipped and packed the oars,
his broad-bladed paddle turning the
boats nose to the slack, as she slowly
drifted downstream. Then he fshed
from the seat well-oiled wooden rags,
securely muffiing the rowlocks.
The propeller's splash grew louder
rapidly; soon great steamers lights
cleaned sickly through the gloom, and
she was abreast of them, moving slowly
upstream, when from her farther side
suddenly flashed her signal light. 1t
was promptly answered by one-two-
three, out of the dense gloom, beyond
the channel, towards the Virginia
shore. They had struck feet OF an
chored transports; and only Pete's
quick decision had saved their rowing
straight into them.
Not a sound aboard the skiff. All
three knew the peril, but that comment
would not mend it. Perfectly still they
sat, until the lights had died away and
the first steamer had passed up, the
lights of the second well in view. Then
the girl whispered:
Glow long before dawn?" r.
ssLess'n two hours, Missy" Pete whis-
pered back.
ssThose anchored ones, across the
channel, will wait for day? We must
pass them?" she said.
s'Sholy, missy. Eff dem wont leebe.
Yves got to run dey," he answered,
gravely. ''Lay low! she's a-comin'P'
Again the pair nestled low in the
straw, Pete backing the, sldf slowly as
he lay fiat along the gunwale, watching
the second transport pass. Again the
signal-lights, again the answers Of the
anchored transports. Then through
the gloom the boatman's trained sight
took in three huge black hulls beyond
the channel, their positions fixing on
his brain.
The second steamer had passed, the
third not yet in sight; and the skiff,
Pete judged, had drifted down half
mile.
ssNow, bossy," he said simply, yves
| lgwine ter cross da chainil, sholy. Den
we'll resk de transputs, fur wunst! Pull
long an slow!"
Again the skiff flew over the water,
headed straight for Virginia. Across
( the channel, well into the slack below,
and well-Pete hoped-below the an
chored, ships, he glanced over his Shout
der With that glance the black lifted
his oar, Evans stroke spinning the
boats head upstream, as he caught the
quick whisper:
cliff, bossy! Left FER drift! Kiver,
quick!"
For either had the darkness made Pete
miscalculate the drift, or Evans quicker
stroke had headed the boat diagonally
across, not straight. For-not twenty
yards ahead-into the eyes Pete conf
| IDENTIFY turned, CLEANED the stern-light
of a vessel, it's height proving her big
one. Then, as he spoke and turned, he
! glanced below, and dimly through the
gloom shone the lights of secondl
No time for speculation now. They
were almost beneath the towering hull,
well within hail or easy pistol-range!
Only careless security, or untried ears,
had failed to catch the plash of oars,
the breathless trio waiting for hail.
probably volley. But neither came;
and silence as of death covered what
might have been phantom ship
Meanwhile, the skiff, in slack from
the current, began to drift slowly to-
wards the second light; and Pete, low
crouched in the stern, noiselessly shipped
his paddle and turned her head shore
ward.
Intuitively the others had stretched
in the hay, drawing the oilcloths well
over them, breathlessly expecting the
whirr of a bullet or the glare of ben
COLA.
1 Flat on the water, no head showing
above her sides, the light craft an
swered well the feather of Pete's strong
slow wrist. Inc. by inch she bore
away, passed under the din-loomine
stern, almost grazing the still blades Q.
the propeller. But, spite of the blacks
strength, the slziff drifted fast; and hf
dared not quicken his paddle, fearing
noise. For now on his quick cal
sounded the dull tramp of the deck
watch on the second transport, and The
dim CLEAN of her cohsort's stern-hgh
fell on the low black slziff drifting be
tween twin dangers So the steersmaI
let her swing closer in, beyond thu
llight,-almost too close,-before III
softly turned her shoreward.
For high above him doomed the sec
iond bow; and biscuit dropping from
lit had fallen in the skiff. And the muf
fed tread above now sounded clear ever
to the two beneath the oil-cloths. Blu
to neither of the three did thought o