's out there, just across yonder island," he whispered. "I
think I can see her stack now. She must be tied up close. We can
slip in on this side, make a landing and get aboard her before she
can stop us, if we're careful. Keep perfectly quiet. Follow us,
boys. Come on, Clayton."

Silently they all cast loose and, each boat taking its own time,
crossed the narrow channel, heading upstream, so as to make the
landing as nearly opposite the steamer as possible. They crawled
out through the mud, and hauled up their boats to safe places along
shore. Then, each man looking to his own weapons, they came
together under the cover of the willows. Dunwody again addressed
them.

"We must slip across there, seventy or eighty yards or so, and get
under the side of her before they know we're here," he said in low
tones. "Let no one fire a shot until I order it. If there's going
to be any shooting, be sure and let them begin it. When we get
across and leave cover, you'd better spread out a little. Keep
down low, and don't shoot unless you have to. Remember that. Come
on, now."

Inside the first fringe of the tangled and heavy willows, the mud
lay deep in a long, half-drained pool of water which stood in the
middle of the willow-covered fiat. Into this, silently as they
could, they were obliged to plunge, wading across, sometimes waist
deep. In spite of the noise thus made there was no challenge, and
the little body of men, re-forming into an irregular line,
presently arrived at the outer edge of the willow flat. Here, in
the light which hung above the river's surface, they could see the
bulk of the steamer looming almost in their faces. She had her
landing planks out, and here and there along the narrow sand beach
a smouldering ember or so showed where little fires had been made.
As a matter of fact, more than half of the men of the boat had
preferred to sleep on shore. Their muffled bodies, covered in
their blankets, might even now be seen here and there.

Although the sound of splashing and struggling in the water and mud
had not raised any of these sleepers, now all at once, as though by
some intuition, the whole bivouac sprang into life. The presence
of so many men could not be concealed.

"Who goes there?" came a military call from the boat. "Halt!
Halt!" came from the line of sleepers suddenly awakened. In an
instant both parties were under arms.

It spoke well for the temper of the men with Dunwody