see it better now than at any time before, for the firemen are piling
in the wood, and the furnace doors are open."

The blazing fires under the boiler cast their light on the river and
the banks, illuminating the scene ahead of her, but not astern,
fortunately for the fugitives seated on the board, or they might have
been seen, and their uniforms distinguished by the enemy. Some of this
light was reflected to the stern of the steamer, through the openings
on the main deck.

"I can see the steamer plainly enough now," said Fronklyn. "It looks as
though ropes had been passed from the top of the banks down to the
vessel."

"Very likely those are to assist the officers and privates to descend
to her; and I wish we had a rope here to help us along," added Deck.
"But do you see the small boat hitched to the stern of the steamer?"

"I can see it now plainly enough; but I had not noticed it before."

"I saw it when I first discovered the steamboat, and I have been making
for it ever since. I was afraid if I said anything that little craft
would be placed out of our reach before we got to it."

"I understand it all now!" exclaimed Fronklyn. "I hope you will excuse
me for grumbling, Lieutenant, when I could not make head nor tail to
your movement."

"That is all right, my dear fellow; only trust me first, and grumble
afterwards, the next time. But we must be moving on."

"What about this board? It is rather heavy to lug the rest of the way,"
said the sergeant, as he lifted one end of it. "Shall we leave it?"

"It may be of use to us. If I had a pole about six feet long it would
help me very much, and perhaps save me from sliding down into the
river."

"If we could break the board in two in the middle, it would make two
staffs for us."

"We can do that," added the lieutenant.

"How?"

"Shoot it in two."

This answer looked like a joke to the sergeant, and he gave his opinion
that the board could not be broken in two in the middle without
splintering it from one end to the other. Deck declared he could manage
the case, and asked his associate to find the middle of the piece of
lumber. By the time he had done so the lieutenant had taken out his
revolver, loaded with six cartridges.

Placing the muzzle of the barrel on the board where Fronklyn pointed to
the middle, he fired, repeating the operation till he had discharged it
six times. The holes made by the balls were about an inch apart. The
reports from the r