he then said, "in my place for fishin'. Now you see de
sun is scoffin' de fog, don't you? Well, you jus' keep de sun right in
your eyes, an' pull away, an' in less dan two hours you'll be in
Plymouth, for de tide is fa'r for you. I wish you well, honey! I done
run away onst myself, but I believe I tole you about dat. Take some o'
dis corn pone, and a piece o' dis cold bacon; you must want sumfin' in
your stumic. So-long!"

"Can't you give me a drink of water?" said Lee. "I want that more than
anything to eat."

"Yes, 'deed I kin!"

And then the old fellow rummaged in his canoe and brought out a black
jug, stoppered with a corn-cob, pulled the latter out, wiped the mouth
of the jug with his sleeve, and presented it to Lee, who took a good
drink, thanked his black friend, and then settled down at the oars for a
long pull.

Belts of fog and mist continued to lie upon the water, and after a time,
and having taken several breathing spells, he was shut in by one of
them, when he began to hear, carried over the water from a distance, the
creaking of blocks and tinkling of iron, and the cries of drivers
shouting at mules or horses, and other noises of a seaport.

Then the fog suddenly lifted, and he saw, quite a distance above him,
the wharves and some houses and vessels, mostly big, three-masted
schooners, loading lumber and tar and turpentine, just as he had been
told by old Jake.

Then, for the first time, it occurred to Lee that if he appeared there
alone, in possession of a ship's boat, he might be looked upon with
suspicion and might have hard work to explain how he came there, and
even might be held until he could clear the matter up.

So, rather than be suspected and detained, he determined to make his
appearance by land, instead of by water, and ran the boat on shore, some
way below the town.

Jumping out, he was about to give her a shove out into the stream, when
he reflected that the tide was still flood and an empty boat would be
sure to be seen and secured and his sudden appearance connected with her
in some way; so he hauled her under a clump of bushes, made her well
fast and walked up a marshy cattle-path toward the town.

In about twenty minutes he came out close to a wharf, where the work of
the day was in full blast. A large schooner lay there, with "Traveler,
of Boston," on her broad stern. She was taking, as a deck-load, some
large, squared timbers, and just then had a big one hung by chains from