Elizabeth noticed them enter the boat together? He had thought of
saying good-by, for his volunteering was no sudden resolve, but had been
his determination from the first. But if he died, what real difference
would that make to her? And if he came back, the leave taking would seem
an absurdity. He seemed still to see the outline of her slender figure,
as with her shawl wrapped about her like a mantle she had stood
bare-headed in the cold May evening.

Had he dreamed that Edmonson had learned of Katie's desertion, and was
full of rage at every word of courtesy or interest that he spoke to
Elizabeth, he would have felt his chance of life still less.

"Can't you hitch along, you fellow next me?" cried Edmonson. "I'm so
cramped here I can't move a muscle, and I suspect we shall want them all
in good order pretty soon. We are coming up to the old walls. Swift and
steady, boys. Every man be ready with his muskets."

As he spoke, he took up his own weapon and examined it in the dimness.
Then, still holding it in his right hand, he laid that arm along the
edge of the boat as if to relieve it from the cramped position he had
complained of. Archdale saw that the muzzle was pointed directly at him
and that the hand which held it in apparent carelessness was working
almost imperceptibly towards the trigger. That would not be touched
quite yet, however, a shot now would alarm the garrison and be
inexcusable. The accident would happen in the excitement of landing.
Archdale's left hand that he with as great indifference as Edmonson's
laid upon the boat's edge was steady. He leaned forward a little to be
out of range, and they went on in silence.

The clouds grew denser, the waves swelled more and more at the violence
of the wind, and the storm, nearer every minute, seemed about to unite
with the fiery storm that awaited the devoted band.

"Look," said Archdale suddenly, "I believe they have discovered us." He
raised his left hand as he spoke, and pointed to the Battery. Lights
were glancing there, and something had given it an air of ponderous
observation, as if eyes were looking through the walls and movements
going on behind them. All the men scanned the battery earnestly except
the speaker whose eyes were watchfully turned upon his neighbor, and who
for reward saw Edmonson's fingers covertly placing themselves on the
trigger, while his face was still toward the fortifications.

"Yes, it's all up with us," cried the latter, "