Sam's guessing turned out to be very correct; it required but little effort to make the point; and as they turned their course in the opposite direction to that in which they had been steering, and were no longer sheltered by the island which formed their beautiful harbor, but were fairly in the outer bay, across whose waters they could see the haze of the ocean and the white beacon that lighted its weary voyagers to their desired haven, the wind blew gently, and Sam lost no time in taking advantage of it; there was just enough to carry them along against the tide, which was no longer in their favor. The fort to which our little voyagers were steering had been erected about ten years. It was intended to command the channel through which vessels of ordinary size must pass, in their way from the ocean to one of our most valuable cities. It was built with two tiers of ports, and of sufficient strength for heavy guns; and as our foreign relations were in an unsettled state, it had, at the period under consideration, its full complement of men. It was erected at some distance from the shore on a ledge of rocks which, at low water, formed a passage to the main land; but when the tide was in, a few only of the highest rocks could be seen. The nearer they approached the place of their destination, the more serious did the matter appear to them. 'Do you think, Sam, there is danger they won't let us in?' 'I don't know; I hope not, Jim. It would be too bad, after all our trouble, not to get even a chance to sell any thing.' 'Well, Sam, we can but try, you know. We have only to tell them what we've come for;--but I _say_, Sam, it makes my heart beat to look at it: what high walls it has; and see, there are the sentinels walking up and down--how their guns glitter in the sunshine!' 'Halloo! halloo! where are you bound, my hearties?' The boys were startled by the gruff tones in which they had been accosted; and, turning their eyes toward the shore from whence the sounds seemed to come, saw an elderly man dressed in a sailor's habit, seated on a rock, and beckoning to them, or rather, by a motion, endeavouring to stop their progress. 'Halloo! my boys; don't go ahead there, or you'll be foul of the rocks.'