67. CHAPTER LXVII.
NOCTURNAL ADVENTURES.
As the fugitives hurried past one of the lamps on the
lawn, they were hailed by a drunken officer, and a moment
after they were surrounded by a score of soldiers, with
presented bayonets.
“Stand!” said the officer, staggering up in front of Alice
and Willy. “You can't pass; his Royal Highness, the
Grand Protector, will cut off your heads—eh! a petticoat?
And where do you come from—and where are you going—
and who are you?”
“Cast your eye on this!” said Willy, unfolding his passport,
and stepping aside with the officer, where the rays of
the lamp enabled him to decipher the autograph of Ruffleton.
“Your pardon! I beg your pardon, sir,” said the officer,
tottering backwards. “All right! And for heaven's sake,”
he continued, apparently sobered in a moment, “do not
report this occurrence!”
Willy made no reply; but, with Alice clinging to his
arm, strode onward, while the soldiers fell back, right and
left, leaving a wide avenue.
“How did you obtain that, Willy?” asked Alice.
“Oh, it is the old passport given me in New York. I do
not think that officer will be likely to make known our
escape. Yonder is the skiff; and I hope the oars are not of
the creaking sort, for we shall have to pass the British fleet
at anchor, and no doubt many boats are plying constantly
between the ships.”
“Fortune favors the brave, Willy,” said Alice, “and we
have prospered so far. Can you row the boat?”
“Oh, yes; I am not very strong, but I am expert at it.”
“I can aid you. I have often amused myself with the
oars, until the blisters on my hands admonished me to desist.
And more than that, Willy: if needs be, in a desperate
case, I can swim—and the water is now warm and
pleasant. So be of good cheer, for I do not mean to be
retaken.”
They were now at the brink of the water, and launching
the boat, which had been left on dry land by the receding
tide, they hastened to embark. All was quiet in the direction
of the Palace, and they did not anticipate immediate
pursuit. Flora, at all events, would not give the alarm. She
could not desire the recapture of Alice, and would not
report the fact of her flight, perhaps, till morning.
Such were the thoughts of both Alice and Willy as they
both glided on silently, for the weather was calm and the
river smooth, near the island of rushes, where Virus and
Windvane had been landed on the night of the President's
evacuation of the Capital. But, when emerging from behind
the lower point of the island, the fugitives were terribly
alarmed by the presence of more than twenty boats,
propelled by muffled oars, which shot out from the rushes
and spatterdocks, and completely surrounded them.
“What does this mean?” said Willy, and looking round
at the silent assemblage of boats, and yet perceiving no
human beings in them.
“It is strange,” said Alice. “Where are the rowers?”
“We'd squatted,” said Captain Fink, rising, and placing
his hand on the prow of the skiff in which the fugitives
were seated. “I know your voice. Here, Captain Bim—
here's good news! They have escaped!”
“By St. George and the Dragon!” cried Bim, rising in
another boat. “I know that musical voice myself. Oh, Miss
Alice! My heart is six ounces lighter than it was an hour
ago.”
“I am happy to hear you say so, Captain Bim,” replied
Alice. “And you were resolved to rescue me?”
“Or die!” said Bim.
“Never say die!” said Fink.
“And now, Willy,” said Alice, “why are you so silent?”
“I have been thinking—”
“Is that you, Wiry Willy?” said Bim, interrupting him;
“no wonder Miss Alice escaped! She never had a truer
friend!”
“That is true, Captain Bim,” said Alice.
“He's always ahead of me. When he's needed, he's
there. When I'm needed, sometimes I'm away.”
“Never mind, Captain Bim,” said Alice. “Do not reproach
yourself. No one blames you. It was my fault as
much as yours, that you were absent. But what were you
thinking about, Willy?”
“A scheme, Miss Alice, if it met your approbation, to
cover the manner of your escape, and to embarrass Ruffleton.”
He then repeated the words he had heard when concealed
in the closet, and suggested that if Lord Slysir were
taken prisoner, without creating alarm, a feat quite practicable,
since he had taken possession of Senator Langdon's
mansion, the Protector would be very likely to couple his
disappearance with the flight of Alice.
“It has my sanction,” said Alice. “I give it my hearty
approbation. I care not what Ruffleton and his army of
traitors may say of me. I am delighted with the idea.
Captain Bim, and you, Captain Fink, may distinguish yourselves,
by capturing Lord Slysir.”
“We'll do it or die,” said Bim.
“Never say die!” said Fink—“but we'll do it! And
it's the best thing we could do to insure the escape of Miss
Alice from the British. Let the boat go down the river by
itself, having one of our pilots and two strong rowers in it.
If they are likely to be observed, they can squat, and ride
past on the tide.”
“And if they board us,” said Willy, “I have got a paper
that will silence them. I believe you know which is Senator
Langdon's house, Captain Bim?”
“As well as the fork knows the way to my mouth. But
that reminds me that you don't know the way to the farm-house
where Senator Langdon and President Randolph are
now sleeping.”
“Do you think they are sleeping, Bim?” asked Alice.
“May be not—it's not late—and we must wait some
hours before we march into the city. Sleeping! no indeed!
They're all thinking of you. Miss Edith has cried herself
almost ugly. But the President bears up bravely, and tells
them you have the wit to escape harm.”
“I was in no danger of being harmed, Captain. But
who will accompany us to the farm-house?”
“My silent lieutenant,” said Fink. “Attention, Click!”
“I'm always attention,” said the taciturn lieutenant.
“Get in there, and do your duty—what that is will be
told you. You are under the orders of the President's
daughter, and it's a great honor to you.”
Click got in, and then the skiff was propelled forward
with great rapidity by the muscular oarsmen, until they
came in the vicinity of the British ship anchored highest up
the river; when every possible precaution was used to elude
observation.
