proving the guards left behind were still on the deck above me. Then one
of the fellows sat down on the edge of the barge, his feet dangling
within a few inches of my head.

"Might as well take it easy, Bill," he said lazily. "They 're like to be
an hour layin' hands on the lad, an' all we got to do is see he don't fox
back this way. Got any tobacco, mate?"

The other must have produced the necessary weed, for there was a scraping
of flint and steel, a gleam of fire glinting on the water, and then the
pungent odor wafted to me in puff of smoke. With one hand, I unbuckled my
sword belt, letting it, sword and all, sink silently into the river. I
must cross to the opposite bank somehow, and would have to dispense with
the weapon. Inch by inch, my fingers gripping the narrow slat to which I
clung, I worked slowly toward the stern of the barge, making not so much
as a ripple in the water, and keeping well hidden below the bulge of the
side. The voices above droned along in conversation, of which I caught a
few words.

"Who was he? You mean the lad they're after down yonder? Oh, I mind now,
you came up late after we'd started the chase. Holy Mother, I don't know
much myself, now I come to think of it. He looked like a Britisher, what
I saw of him, an' he was fightin' with a Captain of Rangers--Grant was
the name; maybe you know the man?--behind one of the stands. Old Hollis
heard the clash of the steel; an' he called to us, an' the whole bunch
started on a run. It was too dark to see much, but we jumped in an'
pulled 'em apart, never once thinkin' it was more than two young hotheads
doin' a little blood-lettin'. Then this chap turned an' run for it,
trippin' up Sandy McPherson to get clear, and we after him. Somebody said
he was a spy, an' that's the whole I know about it."