"Do you think it will be possible to keep on your feet for such a long distance?" I asked anxiously, because until this moment I supposed my father was getting on as comfortably as a man in his condition could reasonably expect.

"I'll manage that part of it, lad; the knowledge of what is to be gained will keep me up."

Well, there is no good reason why I should try to set down all we said while waiting for the owner of the pungy, and when he finally arrived, having had little or no difficulty in finding the smoke-house, it was as if a great and beneficial change was immediately apparent.

The captain's first act was to rebandage my father's wound, Jerry getting him a supply of fresh water from the well at the ruins of the tavern, and when that was done he set about making arrangements for our moving, taking upon himself the entire direction of affairs, much to my relief.

His first act was to explain to Jim, Dody and Josiah the location of the pungy, sending them off at once, with explicit directions as to the streets through which they should pa.s.s. The lads were to go into the cuddy without loitering on deck, and keep the hatch closed and bolted until his arrival.

Jerry and I were to stay in the smoke-house until it was time to begin work in behalf of Darius and Bill, while the captain and my father were to set out as soon as it was sufficiently dark to screen them from view of the curious ones.

Jim and his friends started without delay, welcoming any change after being shut in from the open air so long, and when they were gone the captain announced that he would bring the rope to the jail shortly before ten o'clock.

"I ain't sayin' but that you two lads could work the thing as well without me; but I'm achin' to have a hand in settin' them two old sh.e.l.l-backs free. You'll find that I won't be in the way, even if I don't do any good."

It was a big relief to know that we were to have his a.s.sistance, and I so gave him to understand.

After father had been made as comfortable as was possible under the circ.u.mstances, we lounged around waiting for the night to come; but never saying another word concerning what we hoped to do.

I for one was too nervous regarding the possible outcome to care about holding converse even with friends, for there was in my mind a very vivid realization of what would be the result in case we failed while trying to get the sailors from the roof of the "stone house," or if they were discovered when getting through the scuttle.

It seemed very much like death for all hands concerned if the slightest slip was made, and when a fellow believes he stands near a violent end he is not given to speech.

The moments dragged so heavily that it seemed to me the night would never come. Once during this painful time of waiting Jerry spoke of the possibility that Jim and his friends might lose their way, or be taken in charge as suspicious persons; but I could not arouse myself to feel any anxiety concerning them. My thoughts were with those two old sailors in jail, and the part which the British sentries might play while we were trying to effect their release.

Finally, after it was as if we had spent a full day in the smoke-house, the sun went down, and it was yet quite light when Captain Hanaford announced that he and my father might safely make the start.

"We've got to steer a roundabout course," he said, "an' I reckon it'll be plain sailin' from now till dark. Stay where you are, lads, an'

don't so much as poke your nose out till half-after-nine."

"How shall we be able to tell the time?" I asked, rather for the sake of saying something, than because I wanted information.

"You will hear the sentinels at the encampment often enough to give you a fair idee. Get there as near as possible to the hour set, an'

you'll find me close at hand."

Then he went out, my father leaning heavily on his arm, and Jerry and I faced each other in the gloom, heeding not the fact that we had had nothing to eat during nearly eight and forty hours, save the chips of ham and the unsavory mess prepared by Jim; thinking only of what we were to do, and the many chances against success.

It was Jerry who broke a long silence by saying with an attempt at cheerfulness:

"I don't know of any reason why we should moon 'round here like a couple of chumps. It won't help matters any, an' surely it don't improve my courage."

Then I forced myself to take part in conversation, speaking of this or that trouble or adventure in the past; but never once of what might be before us in the future, and thus the time pa.s.sed until we believed we were warranted in setting forth.

With all due regard to prudence, we went by the most direct course to the "stone house," never seeing a Britisher on our way, and it must have been at least a quarter-hour before the time set, when we were come to where it was possible to have a good view of the roof of the jail.

The night was dark, with heavy, ominous looking clouds hanging low in the sky; but yet we could have distinguished the form of a man on the top of the building.

We were half hidden by the clump of bushes in the garden of the dwelling where I had been screened from view of Elias Macomber, when we saw a man approaching leisurely, and looking from side to side in search of some one.

I recognized Captain Hanaford, and stepped out to meet him, asking how he and father had managed to get along.

"He pulled through all right, lad, an' was lyin' in my bunk happy as a cricket when I left."

"But you've forgotten the rope!" I exclaimed, and the captain opened his coat to show me the line wound around his waist in such a fashion that one might have come close upon him without suspecting that he carried anything.

He stepped behind the bush to unwind it, and while he was thus engaged I distinctly saw the form of a man emerge from the scuttle-hatch on the roof of the jail.

"They're coming out!" I whispered excitedly, and then glanced hurriedly around to learn where the sentries were stationed.

To my surprise I could not see a single person, save the soldier who appeared at the corner once in every two or three minutes as he paced his beat at the end of the building. It seemed extraordinary that there should be no others in sight; but such was the fact, and surely we had no reason to complain because the enemy was careless.

A few hours later I understood the reason for this seeming neglect of the prisoners.

My comrades were ready for the work on hand immediately I gave the alarm, and swiftly the three of us crossed over, I wondering if it would be possible for us to throw the rope to the roof where the sailors could catch it.

[Ill.u.s.tration: As soon as the line was made fast a man slipped down quickly followed by another.]

As we neared the building I saw that Darius had already made arrangements for getting one end of the rope into his possession.

A bit of cloth was swinging to and fro at the corner of the jail when I arrived, and taking hold of it curiously, I saw that it was made fast to a string formed of two or three strands of yarn.

The old sailor had unraveled their socks in order to procure that which would enable them to haul up the rope.

There was no need of word or signal. Captain Hanaford made fast one end of the half-inch manilla, gave the yarn-twine a jerk in token that all was ready, and then we payed out on the rope to make certain it went up without kinks.

In less than three minutes a man slipped down the line at a rate of speed that must have heated his hands in great shape, and he was hardly more than on the ground before the second prisoner followed.

We had effected the escape, and it now remained to get under cover in the shortest possible s.p.a.ce of time.

"It won't do to run; but you can keep close at my heels," the captain said as he set off at a walk which fully equaled running, and we followed very closely, I literally holding my breath as I tried to realize that the task which had seemed so formidable a few moments previous, had been accomplished with the greatest ease.

CHAPTER XIX.

THE UNEXPECTED.

There is little need for me to set it down that we neither slackened pace nor halted until we were in the cuddy of the pungy.

Not a member of our party spoke until we descended the companion-way stairs, and faced the lads and my father, who had lighted a candle as a sort of welcome, and then Darius exclaimed:

"Well I'm blowed if you don't look kind'er cozy here! Who'd think this crowd had been hob-n.o.bbin' with the Britishers for the last two or three days? Bob Hanaford, where did the lads run afoul of you, an' why didn't you get your pungy down river before the enemy's fleet came up?"

There was a deal of handshaking and congratulations before we settled down to anything like rational talk, and then Jerry and I told how we found the captain, and what had happened since Darius left the smoke-house.

Then it was the old man's turn to give an account of his misadventures, and this he did after refreshing himself with an enormous piece of tobacco.