There was a
break just in the center, and the outline of a tree could be seen
above the roof. Dick leant forward and again touched the lieutenant.
"That must be the house, sir," he whispered.
Mr. Ferguson nodded without speaking; and after the boat had gone
another hundred yards, the line of forest could again be seen,
and the boat was rowed into the bank, and two minutes later shot
through a narrow channel and entered a creek some forty yards wide.
"Now you can give way again, lads."
An hour's paddling in a sampan would mean about three miles, and
after twenty minutes' sharp rowing, the men were ordered to row easy
again, and the lieutenant and Dick kept an anxious lookout ahead.
The creek was here little more than fifty yards across, and,
accustomed as their eyes were to darkness, they presently saw that
it widened out suddenly. The word was passed down for the men to
paddle easily, and in two minutes the pool opened before them. They
could not make out the prahus, lying as they did against the shadow
of the trees on the farther side, but they could see a number of
lights, apparently from swinging lanterns, and hear a loud murmur
of voices.
"Easy all," the lieutenant ordered now; "back her very quietly;
now pull bow."
Noiselessly the boat was brought round, and its head directed to
the right hand bank.
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