This was done daily by some of the Keith family, even the very little ones being sometimes allowed the treat when the weather and walking were fine and the distance was not too great. Passengers were constantly getting off and on at the locks and the towns along the route, and often the boat was crowded. It was so the first night that our friends spent on board; babies cried, older children fretted and some grown people indulged in loud complaints of scant and uncomfortable accommodations; altogether the cabin was a scene of confusion and the young Keiths felt very forlorn. But mother, aunt and older sister were very patient, soothed, comforted, and at length succeeded in getting them all to sleep. Then Aunt Wealthy, saying that she felt disposed to lie down and rest beside the children, persuaded Mrs. Keith and Mildred to go upon deck for an hour to enjoy the moonlight and the pleasant evening breeze with Mr. Keith and Rupert, who had been there ever since supper. Mr. Keith helped his wife and daughter up the short flight of steps that led from the stern to the deck, and found them seats on some of their own trunks. There were a number of other passengers sitting about or pacing to and fro; among the former a burly German who sat flat on the deck at the stern end of the boat, his long legs dangling over the edge, his elbow on his knee and his bearded chin in his hand, gazing out idly over the moonlight landscape, while wreaths of smoke from a pipe in his mouth, curled slowly up from his lips. The Pauline glided onward with easy pleasant motion; all had grown quiet in the cabin below and the song of the bullfrogs, the dull thud of the horses' hoofs and the gentle rush of the water against the sides of the boat, were the only sounds that broke the stillness. "How nice it is here!" exclaimed Mildred, "the breeze is so refreshing, the moonlight so bewitching!" "Yes, the country is looking beautiful," said her mother, "and one gets a good view of it here; but I feel somewhat apprehensive in regard to the bridges. We must be on the watch for them and dodge in time." "We will," said her husband; "though we may pretty safely trust to the steersman; it is his duty to be on the lookout and give timely warning." "Well, we're facing in the right direction to see them," remarked Rupert, "but that Dutchman back there is not. I s'pose he's safe enough, though, with the man at the helm to sing out as we near them." With that they fell into talk on other topics, and thought no more of the smoker. "Bridge!" sang out the steersman, and down went every head except that of the German, who sat and smoked on unmoved. "Bridge!" The cry was repeated in louder, more emphatic tones. "Yah, pridge, pridge!" responded the German straightening up a little, nodding his head assentingly, but not looking round. "Bridge!" sang out the steersman for the third time, "bridge, you stupid lout! dodge or"--