them, but they could not see him and his
comrades, whose heads were blurred with the darkness of the river. He
turned on his side and whispered to Seth, who was next to him:

"I think we'd better swim above the flatboat, keeping at a good
distance, and then drop down between it and the bank. They will not be
expecting an enemy from that side. What do you think of it, Seth?"

Seth Cole nodded, and they swam silently up stream. If any one splashed
the water it passed for the splash of a leaping fish, and there was no
alarm in the Indian camp. Henry, studying the shore minutely as he swam
with slow stroke, could not see motion anywhere. The fires burned low,
and now that they were dropping down near the shore he saw the dim
outlines of figures beside them. Some of the warriors slept in a sitting
posture with their heads upon their knees, which were clasped in their
arms, while others lay in their blankets. The canoes, in which Indians
also slept, were tied to saplings on the bank.

They swam now with the greatest slowness, barely making a stroke,
drifting rather. Henry knew that not all the warriors on the bank were
asleep. Sentinels stood somewhere among the trees, and it was hard to
escape the vigilance of an Indian on watch. Only a night of unusual
darkness made an approach such as theirs possible.

A broad shape rose out of the obscurity. It was the flatboat, now not
twenty feet away, and Henry paused a moment, the five heads pausing with
him.

"Nobody is watching on this side of the boat," whispered the youthful
leader, "and it will not be hard to climb over the side. We must all do
so at once and make a rush."

"I'm thinkin' you're right," Seth Cole whispered back.

They headed straight for the flatboat and each put a hand upon its side.
A Miami sentinel on the bank heard a splash a little louder than usual,
and he saw a gleam of white in the water beside the flatboat.

The Miami sprang forward for a better look, but he was not in time. Six
white figures rose from the water. Six white figures gave a mighty
heave, and the next moment they were upon the deck. The sentinels,
looking toward the middle of the river, heard the sound of light,
pattering footsteps behind them, and wheeled about. Despite their
courage, they uttered a cry of superstitious horror. Surely these white,
unclad figures were ghosts, or gods come down from the skies! One in his
fright sprang overboard, but the other, recovering himself somewh