The boys were almost stunned by this remarkable information; but they
hastened to accept the hand offered them, and received a hearty squeeze
in return.

"My name is Stebbens, and the boys are Daniel and Luther," continued the
officer who seemed not quite mind the disappointment of failing to
effect an important capture, when the little adventure had give him a
story to carry back home to those twins he thought so much of.

"Well all this is mighty interesting, John," said the man with the gruff
voice, and who seemed to be the leader of the revenue men; "but we
mustn't lose any more time here. The sea is nasty, but our boat can
stand it, and we know where tricky Cranston is apt to turn up before
morning, not ten miles away; so perhaps we'd better be saying good-night
to these lads, and starting out again."

He, as well as the third man, insisted on also shaking hands all around
before departing, and with such good will that Bumpus was rubbing his
fingers for quite some time afterwards, to get the numb feeling out of
the same.

But then no one found any fault; in fact they were thrilled by the
knowledge that their exploits had been read by other scouts, who
cherished a sort of friendly feeling for the members of the Silver Fox
Patrol, just from learning about their adventures in a book or so.

They did not feel at all sleepy after the three revenue men had said
good-bye, and vanished in the dark night.

"What's the use pushing out there again, and dropping the mud-hook