This reply apparently satisfied the look-out, and without further interruption the canvas boat drew into the shallow waters of Coombe Bay. Fortunately the tide was nearly at the full, and still rising, and hence no danger of being stranded on the mud was likely to occur. "Easy, men," cautioned Captain Restronguet, as the gaunt outlines of the railway bridge spanning the creek loomed up against the darkness. Then, "Lay on your oars." Gradually losing way the boat drifted on till it grounded on the shingle hard at the foot of the bridge. The boat’s crew listened intently; beyond the distant rumble of a belated train, and the faint hoot of a liner’s syren away out in the Sound, all was still. Ten minutes passed. Captain Restronguet knitted his brows in perplexity. "There’s some one, sir," whispered Gwennap, as the cautious scrunching of a man’s boots upon the shingle could be faintly heard. Then a dark figure appeared out of the night. "Is that you, Kenwyn?" demanded the Captain in a low voice. "Ay, ay, sir." "Then jump in; I thought you had missed us." "Couldn’t get here any sooner, sir," said the man apologetically. "I was stopped and questioned by a patrol as I came down from the station. There are launches up and down the river, I am told, looking for us." "The deuce there are!" exclaimed Captain Restronguet; then in a calmer tone he added, "We must risk it. Perhaps it is my fault; but I don’t think they’ll look for the ’Aphrodite’ so close to the bridge. Give way, men." On gaining the main stream, greatly to the relief of all in the boat, no red and green lights of patrolling launches were to be seen. Boldly Captain Restronguet steered across the bows of the cruiser that had hailed him on the outward trip. To lurk inshore would be courting suspicion. "Boat ahoy!" came the hail from the lookout. Captain Restronguet replied as before, but this time the look-out was not satisfied. "What boat is that?" he shouted. "Customs!" roared the captain with a lucky inspiration. Muttering a malediction on all custom-house officials, especially on those in this particular boat, the seaman resumed his walk up and down the fo’c’sle deck. He remembered a certain half a pound of tobacco that had got him into trouble with His Majesty’s Customs, and the incident still rankled in his manly bosom. Without further interruption the boat ran alongside the deck of the "Aphrodite." Her crew jumped aboard the parent vessel, hauled the collapsible on deck and folded it. "Look sharp, sir!" exclaimed Gwennap. "There’s a steam-boat bearing right down upon us."