The things we do!

The other showed a sudden
firmness.
"My errand demands secrecy and speed alike. There must be no
communication between this boat and the shore, so far as this young
lady is concerned. Meantime, if all is ready, it would please me
mightily if we could start."
The captain pulled a bell rope. "Tell the mate to cast off," he
said, to the man who answered. An instant later the hoarse boom of
the boat's whistles roared out their warning. There came a crush
of late-comers at the gangway. Shouts arose; deck hands scrambled
with the last packages of freight; but presently the staging was
shipped and all the lines cast free. Churning the stained waters
into foam with her great paddles, the _Mount Vernon_ swung slowly
out into the narrow stream.
[Illustration: The Captain pulled a bell rope.]
"Now, Captain Rogers," went on Captain Carlisle, tersely, "tell, me
who's aboard;" and presently he began to ponder the names which, in
loose fashion, the clerk assembled from his memory and his personal
acquaintance.


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