wish to be taken up before the
arrival of my most important witness. I deemed it prudent, therefore, to
keep out of sight to some extent, though I did not put myself out much
about it.

Squire Fishley did not come on the second day after our arrival, to my
very great disappointment, for I began to fear that I should be snapped
up by some greedy constable. The keeper of the hotel, who did not
recognize me in the trim suit I wore, had a very handsome keel boat,
prettily painted, which he kept for the use of the pleasure travel
frequenting his house. Sim and I had rowed our friends up and down the
river in this boat, and I engaged it for the third day, as soon as I
found that the senator was not a passenger on the down-river steamer. I
intended to make a long excursion in her, as much to keep myself out of
the way, as for the fun of it. I invited Emily and Flora to go, and they
gladly accepted the invitation.

[Illustration: THE ARREST OF BUCK BRADFORD.--Page 277.]

After breakfast we embarked, with a plentiful supply of luncheon on
board, for we did not mean to return till the middle of the afternoon. I
proposed to go up the creek, and then up the branch to the swamp, where
we had started on our long voyage upon the raft. Sim and I pulled
cheerfully, and our passengers were delighted with the trip. We entered
the gloomy swamp; but the river had fallen, so that its banks were no
longer covered with water. I showed Emily the place where Sim and I had
built the raft. We landed, and walked up the slope far enough for her to
see the house and store of the Fishleys. In the cool shade of the
swamp we lunched, and enjoyed ourselves to the utmost. My fair companion
was an interested listener, and wished to know every particular in
regard to the raft, which had been the means of saving her life.

About three o'clock we started to return, and the passage was so
pleasant that it seemed like a dream of fairy-land. I sat at the after
oar, with Emily directly in front of me; and I am not altogether sure
that this circumstance was not the origin of the fairy idea; at any
rate, her presence enhanced the joy of the occasion. All went merry as a
marriage bell till we reached a part of the river called the Ford.

At this stage of the river the water was not three feet deep; and, just
as we were passing the shoalest part of the Ford, two men leaped into
the water, and waded out to the boat. Sim and I were resting on our oars
at the time,