on the eastern shore, where there is less chance
of bein' seen, an' do our best at the paddles," Jerry said as we
discussed the matter just before coming within sight of the village.
"I'd give a good deal to see mother an' the children; but it seems as
if we had no right to loiter."

I was of his mind, and we hugged the opposite bank of the river,
keeping under the screen of foliage as much as possible, until there
was no danger of being recognized.

During all that day and far into the night we paddled. Now and then
one would stop to rest his arms; but the other continued the labor,
therefore the canoe did not come to a stop from the time we left the
fleet until we were arrived at Hog Point.

There we run her bow on the shore while we ate a hearty meal, and
discussed the question as to whether it would be better to approach
the house from the northerly or the southerly side.

I was in favor of going ashore where we then were; but Jerry won the
day by suggesting that if we ran around on the other side, it would be
possible to see if the British came up the bay, and this last was
quite important to us in case we were forced to spend much time
waiting for a fitting opportunity to catch our game.

After refreshing ourselves with food, we paddled around the point
without danger of being seen, because it was so late in the night,
and landed at the same place as before, knowing that from there we
would have no difficulty in finding the dwelling.

After pulling the canoe up amid the bushes, and hiding her as well as
was possible in the darkness, we laid down on the ground, falling
asleep almost immediately we had stretched ourselves out at full
length, and not until the first beams of the rising sun shone across
our faces did we awaken.

It was but natural that we should look down the bay before doing
anything else; but we saw nothing to disturb us. A small craft was
coming slowly up, for the breeze was light; but to her we gave little
or no heed.

We began the day by eating breakfast. Then we saw to it the boat was
so nearly concealed by the foliage that she would not be seen save
after careful search, and we set out to reconnoiter the premises.

We advanced cautiously, stopping every half dozen paces to listen lest
we inadvertently stumble upon the owner of the plantation, or his
guest, and after spending half an hour in such slow progress, we came
in view of the place.

Elias Macomber was pacing to and fro in