The Yankee Champion — page 36: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

“~. a THE YANKEE CHAMPION. 29 gunny-bags, which he placed in the scow, and he | promised that he would be on hand to help her off when she was wanted, and, moreover, that he would be secret about what was in the wind. As soon as all was thus satisfactorily arranged, Nixon took his way back to his boat, and recrossed the river, and shortly afterward he joined his offi- cers, where he learned that the men were all ready the moment they were wanted. In turn he ex- plained the result of his own mission. ‘But you don’t expect you are going to get along- side with that old scow, do you?’’ uttered Baker. “Why, they’ll be sure to fire into us the first thing,’’ added Cummings. “No, no, 1 have thought of all that,’’ returned Nixon. ‘‘A scow is the only thing we can goin. A regular sail-vessel, large enough to carry us all, would be sure to excite a suspicion that we might not lull, but with the old scow lam confident we shall pass. ’”’ The two officers saw how the matter stood, and they were satisfied that the arrangement was the best that could have been made, when their com- mander assured them that he would have an excuse ready for appearing to the Englishman in sucha — dubious shape. The day passed slowly away, and at length the dusky shades of night settled down over the town. There was no moon, and a light fog that had swept from the sea and hung itself overhead, almost shut out the stars. It was not uncommonly dark, but yet so dark that objects could not be distinguished at any distance over arod or two. At nine o’clock the men were collected on the bank of the river at the western extremity of the village, and they evinced cComicbooks €o mn