There was almost a hope in my mind that we might be prevented from going further on our hazardous venture, but when in less than ten minutes Hiram returned, looking as if he had never known a care in his life, I understood that either by making a clean breast of the matter, or by inventing some plausible reason for our leaving Cambridge, he had satisfied the officer in command of the battery. It was long past midnight when we were arrived at the mouth of the river, and since there was no good reason why we should strive to come to an end of our journey a few hours sooner or later, we hauled the skiff ashore where grew a thicket of bushes, such as would conceal us from view of any who might pass either by land or water. After the skiff was pulled up within the screen of foliage, Hiram spread out two of the blankets to protect us from the damp earth, and the others he proposed we should use as a covering of what he was pleased to call a "field bed." Then we sat ourselves down to partake of food for the first time since leaving the encampment, and I noted with no little anxiety that if we continued to have such appetites during the next four and twenty hours, our store of food would be sadly diminished. Despite my forebodings as to the outcome of this hazard, I fell asleep shortly after stretching myself out at full length between Archie and Harvey, nor did I awaken until Hiram shook me into consciousness, saying that the sun would rise in half an hour, and we should be well on our journey before the heat of the day had grown too great. CHAPTER XII IN BOSTON TOWN It seemed as if Hiram grew bolder the nearer we advanced to the point of danger, for instead of going up Muddy river and from thence making our way across to Dorchester through Roxbury, as had been much the same as agreed upon the night previous, he put straight for Stony brook, and, hugging the eastern shore of the point, we made our way along until having come to the American outpost, arriving there about nightfall. Here we had no difficulty in making ourselves known, owing to the fortunate circumstance that the captain who was in command at that time had seen us Minute Boys and Hiram more than once at Cambridge, therefore was he ready to welcome us in as hearty a manner as possible, sparing not his stores so that we might husband what little food we had brought from the encampment. As a matter of course he was curious to know where we were bound, and when he asked questions concerning our purpose we lads would have put him off with evasive replies, believing Hiram desired to keep secret that which we would do, therefore was our surprise great when Griffin made a clean breast of the whole scheme, even going into details so far as lay in his power.