better to let his men return unassailed, and wait till they were all
asleep.

It was now half an hour after ten. Steps were once more heard upon
the shore. The man with a lantern and his companion, again remounted
the ravine toward the woods. When they were safely beyond hearing,
Wells went to warn our men, while I stole forward again to the very
edge of the water.

The "Terror" lay at the end of a short cable. As well as I could
judge, she was long and slim, shaped like a spindle, without chimney,
without masts, without rigging, such a shape as had been described
when she was seen on the coast of New England.

I returned to my place, with my men in the shelter of the ravine; and
we looked to our revolvers, which might well prove of service.

Five minutes had passed since the men reached the woods, and we
expected their return at any moment. After that, we must wait at
least an hour before we made our attack; so that both the Captain and
his comrades might be deep in sleep. It was important that they
should have not a moment either to send their craft darting out upon
the waters of Lake Erie, or to plunge it beneath the waves where we
would have been entrapped with it.

In all my career I have never felt such impatience. It seemed to me
that the two men must have been detained in the woods. Something had
barred their return.

Suddenly a loud noise was heard, the tumult of run-away horses,