“Save your breath, lad, save your breath! Whatsoever we may say now will not change the situation by a hair’s breadth, and verily are we needing both strength and wind if, peradventure, they fail to hit all three of us at the first volley.” Never before, even while engaged in a friendly contest of skill, had I worked so desperately at the paddle. It was a stout ashen blade, yet it bent like a bow betwixt the resistance of the water and the pressure of my hands; at another time, when the stakes were less than life itself, I could not have hoped to curve the wood however slightly. I dare venture to say that Archie Gordon was putting forth every ounce of his strength even as I was of mine, for the lad had good pluck and a strong arm, together with sufficient of temper to lend fictitious vigor at such a moment. Save as I have already set down, our flight was made in silence, except for the music of the water as it rippled against the sides of the skiff, telling of the speed we were making, and although less than a minute had really elapsed since we pushed out into the current, it seemed to me that a full quarter of an hour must have sped before we heard the rattle of musketry and the singing of the bullets as they passed above our heads. The king’s men overshot their mark, otherwise the aim was good, for had the weapons been depressed ever so little some of the missiles must have found their billets in our bodies. Once the muskets had been discharged I felt a sense of wondrous relief, for now must we have a respite during such time as would be required for the enemy to recharge the weapons, and I laughed aloud even while expending every ounce of strength upon the paddle, whereat Gabriel said in a tone of irritation: “The situation may not be so comical when next they fire,” and Archie replied in a tone that warmed my heart: “They won’t shoot until after having reloaded, and we will crow while we have the opportunity.” Then, half-turning, he shouted over his shoulder to that miserable cur of a Seth Hastings, “If it so be we give your hounds the slip this time, Seth, my boy, I’ll undertake to come back to Charleston as soon as may be--surely before any other can take your precious life, and repay the score which you have set for us to wipe out.” No fellow could have resisted the temptation, however great the need of his laboring at the paddle, to look back in order to note what effect these words had upon the traitor, and, glancing at him an instant, I fancied I saw, even at such a distance, the gray pallor of fear come over his face. Certain it is he slackened pace, while the soldiers, instead of recharging their weapons, were making their way along the shore at full speed in chase of us, as if forgetting that it was upon their muskets and not their legs they must rely.