RECREA TION. 



235 



an apple, at 500 feet, with a Winchester. 

 There isn't much fun facing a shot like 

 that. You can take my tip; every time 

 he pulls a trigger one of us will go to 

 fill the bottom of the cutter. We are all 

 six of us dead men before we get within 

 a hundred feet of them, if he begins 

 shooting. I wish I was out of this and 

 back by my fireside, in Clayton." 



"You're showing the white feather, 

 Mike." 



" No, t'isn't that ; but when I think 

 of Liz and the little ones, I don't feel 

 at all anxious to get too near to Joe's 

 Skiff. You all know me. I never shirked 

 duty nor danger when 'twas honest. 

 Didn't I go out on the broken ice to 

 save old Tom, when none of you dared ? 

 No, I don't like this job. If I get 

 knocked out who's to look after Liz and 

 my babies and give them food and fire 

 during the cold winter months ? Boys, 

 it's not worth it, all for the sake of a 

 few dollars in or out of the country's 

 pocket. Would the government take 

 care of my little ones, if I go down to- 

 night ? I guess not. They would have to 

 depend on charity and there's not much 

 in that to keep them warm and hearty." 



From the authoritative tone it was evi- 

 dently the captain of the cutter who now 

 spoke. 



" We must put Mr. A. out of the way of 

 doing us harm. When we run across 

 them, we'll demand surrender. If they 

 don't stop at once, give Mr. A a volley. 



"Don't show the white feather, but 

 when the time comes, shoot to kill." 



This was interesting for me, to say 

 the least of it. • Here was I, absolutely 

 innocent ; yet being put down as the 

 principal in a smuggling scheme. If 

 caught, nothing could save me. I in- 

 stinctively took my revolver and felt the 

 trigger. At that moment I caught Joe's 

 face which had a dark sinister smile on 

 it. He shook his head and put his 

 finger to his mouth as a warning; then 

 noiselessly picked up his Winchester,and 

 handed it back to me. 



The clouds now thickened and it be- 

 came inky dark Joe noiselessly pushed 

 off from the rock, took his oars and 

 cautiously made for the Grindstone. 

 Now for the first time I understood his 

 care about the leather bindings in the 

 morning. The leather being new, soft 

 and spongy, perfectly muffled all sounds. 

 We had just reached the side of the first 



little island, about 1,500 yards away, 

 when the clouds cleared, the moon shone 

 out,and we were discovered. The officers 

 were at once under weigh and after us. 

 Just as we reached the farther end of the 

 island they gave us a volley. No harm was 

 done; only one shot struck, taking a little 

 chip out of the end of the blade of one of 

 the oars. A moment later, we were round 

 the point and out of sight. The clouds 

 now came over the moon again and 

 darkness favored us. Joe said : 



" In three minutes we be safe !" 



How, I could not see, but my faith in 

 Joe was implicit and I felt at least a 

 certain amount of security. Just ahead 

 of us lay a group of little islands. Pass- 

 ing the first of these rocks Joe drew 

 in behind it. The cutter had not yet 

 appeared around the first island we 

 passed. Then we made straight for 

 another with a dwarf pine at its head. 

 Passing around it, on the farther side, 

 Joe ran into some rushes. He jumped 

 out and told me to do the same ; he 

 then took hold of the bow of the 

 boat and pulled it in through the 

 rushes. On the inside was an archway 

 in the rocks, just wide enough to let a 

 skiff through and high enough for a man 

 to pass under by stooping ; but so low, 

 in fact, that the tops of the rushes grazed 

 the roof of the archway. This tunnel 

 was not perfectly straight, but curved 

 just enough to prevent any one seeing 

 through it from either side. Our united 

 efforts soon got the boat through, there 

 being water enough to float her as soon 

 as we got out. On the inside there was 

 a basin or pocket of water about two 

 feet deep and some fifty feet square. On 

 the left side was a little sandy beach and 

 a cave running back about 30 feet. 

 This contained three or four logs, 

 evidently put there to run a 

 boat in on. At the end of the cave 

 there was a crevice or crack in the rock, 

 about four or five inches wide, which 

 opened so that one could see everything 

 in the direction of Hickory. As soon as 

 we were thus housed, Joe went out and 

 straightened up the rushes which had 

 been bent down by our passage through 

 them. Then he came back and took a 

 peep through the rift. 



" Here they come," he said. " I'll go 

 up to the look-out." 



I followed him. On the top there 

 was an indentation so that one could lie 



