The day was just beginning to break in the East when the little wave-tossed boat bearing the Patriot survivors of the ill-fated ship, drew in sight of land. The first bright rays of the rising sun showed the low fringe of shore to the four in the boat, and it was a very welcome sight indeed. Tom had now recovered his strength, and was anxious to take his place at the oars, but although his comrades were tired out with several hours' rowing, they refused to allow him to exert himself till he had fully recovered from the strain of the night's battle. Tom's part in that fight had been the hardest, and he had certainly shown himself to be a true Dare, fearless and strong in all circumstances.

As the light grew stronger, Tim, who was in the bow, exclaimed, "Faith, and it seems to me they are cooking our breakfast for us."

Although the rest had no idea who "they" referred to, all looked towards the distant shore, and it seemed, as Tim had said, that several thin streams of smoke were rising and joining into a heavier column above the treetops.

"Looks like signs of an encampment," said Tom. "I wonder whether they are friends or enemies?"

"Frinds or inimies makes no difference at all," answered Tim. "We'll not be able to keep on cruising in this little tub much longer, and if they are inimies sure we'll be after tellin' them we have but just left a good boat belongin' to the sailors of King George, which will be but the plain truth, and that of all the grand company that sailed to fight the inimies of the King, we are the only ones left."

"It might be a wise thing to evade arrest or imprisonment if they are English troops," said Tom, "but we'll hope they are Patriots till we know to the contrary. What do you think about it, captain?"

"Well, it's certain that I don't want to be penned up till the end of this war, and it seems to me that if we all stick to Tim's story, we may remove any suspicion and be allowed our liberty."

"Sure, and in this game it's only right and proper to keep your liberty," replied Tim. "And remember, Tom, you have got work ahead of you before we get to——"

"Where we are going," interposed Tom, quickly, anxious to have everything regarding his journey kept as secret as possible. He knew that the mate and the captain were perfectly loyal to the cause, but his instructions were to keep his destination to himself, and he intended to do so.

Tim, thus admonished, said no more.

The boat had drawn nearer the shore now, and all four were keenly and somewhat anxiously watching the beach for signs of the men they knew must be there.

They had not long to wait, for in a few minutes a whole company tumbled out of the woods and ran down to the beach for their morning swim. As they were in the act of undressing, one of them caught sight of a boat containing the Patriots.

"Hi, there, comrades," he shouted, "we are having early visitors."

Several of the men ran back for their rifles, and so Tom stuck up an oar with his handkerchief knotted at the end of it, as a signal of friendship. The mate and Tim pulled straight for the group on the beach.

"Better make it seem as though we are glad to see them," the mate suggested. "If they take us for Tories, we will be free to go our own way, but if they suspect our real feelings we will certainly be in trouble."

So they rowed steadily shoreward, pointing the nose of their little craft for the group of British troops.

"Ahoy on shore!" shouted Tim. "We are after comin' from his majesty's royal fleet, and want to spake with your officers."

Tim grinned as he shouted this, and all the party wondered how his story would be taken.

"You'll see them quick enough," replied one of the Redcoats. "Plenty quick enough if you are friends of his majesty's—God bless him—and too quick if you are not."

Some of the soldiers ran out into the surf and pulled the boat in when they had about reached the beach, and with many expressions of thankfulness and apparent joy the Patriots tumbled out and joined the English.

"We are the last of a strong little crew and a good ship," volunteered the captain. "The other poor boys went down with the ship."

"And what may you be doing here, when, as far as I can see, a captain is supposed to stick till the last?"

"We were rowing about, trying to pick up this man who had fallen overboard," invented the captain, who had been caught in a peculiar position. In fact, as this instance shows, and as the boys well knew, it is both unwise and difficult to attempt deception, even in a good cause.

"A likely thing to my way of thinking," said the soldier. "Captains do not generally go overboard after sailors when they fall over, do they?"

"Not generally," said Tom. "But the captain and I had been good friends, and he was anxious to save me quickly."

"Guess this must be a matter for the officers," said one of the men. "They will pretty soon find out whether these fellows are what they claim to be or not."

Now, Tom had a great dislike for being seen by the officers, for his activities with Dick had often thrown him into the enemy's hands, and he was afraid that some of his former captors might be with this party. Therefore to gain a little time, he said, "Now, see here, boys, everything you will find to be all right and satisfactory, and before we go to see the general or whoever it is that has command, we would like to take a dip in the surf and get freshened up a bit. Rowing around all night in an open boat doesn't help your appearance any, and we'll just join you boys in a swim, if you don't mind. Then we'll all be ready to go up and straighten things out."

"That's all right, young feller," said the spokesman of the troops, a corporal, "you can have your swim all right, but don't you be too sure it will be as easy to straighten things out as you think."

"Good," said Tom. "That's fine. And we'll be able to explain everything later on."

Meanwhile, Tom's mind had been working rapidly, and he saw that they would easily ferret out the truth of the story as long as there were four of them to question. He didn't see how Tim and he could be any worse off by facing the matter out. It was about time for Dick and Fritz to be along in that part of the country, too, for their trip overland would take them longer than Tom had taken, being driven rapidly up the coast by the storm. Therefore, it seemed to him that if he could manage to get the captain and the mate out of the way, it would be better all around. So, when the party prepared to remove their clothes, Tom whispered to the captain:

"Captain, we can't stop to argue matters out to form any detailed plan, but Tim and I will start some kind of a fuss in the water now, and while we keep their attention, you and the mate float quietly down the shore on your backs till you reach those plum bushes—see them?—those beach plums down there." Tom motioned with his eyes. "It's a great joke being taken for rebels isn't it?" he said in a louder voice as a soldier approached. "One would think we looked like desperadoes."

The captain smiled and nodded his head, and Tom saw that he was answering his instructions.

"Come along, you fellows," shouted the corporal, "we haven't got all morning for this swim."

"All right. We're ready," answered Tom, and they all trotted down to the water's edge.

"Gee, it's cold," chattered Tom.

"Faith, and if your lordship will wait a moment, I'll warm it for you," replied Tim, giving Tom a vigorous push that sent him floundering out to his waist.

"I'll fix you for that," shouted Tom, seeing that Tim had unconsciously started the excitement that he wanted.

Tom ran back and headed Tim up the shore away from the plum bushes. They raced about fifty yards, and at the shout of the soldiers, who were all watching their antics with interest, Tim ducked and rushed out into the water. Tom was on his heels and they began a spirited water-fight, of which Tim soon had enough, and he turned and dove through an oncoming wave and struck out lustily to evade Tom.

Things were working out better than Tom had expected, and the soldiers, amused by the spirited fight the two boys were waging, followed them up the beach and gave the mate and the captain an excellent chance to scurry down the water line with their clothes in their hands.

Tom, keeping far enough from Tim to encourage him, and yet near enough to keep the interest of the troopers, saw the naked figures go out of sight around a sand dune near the beach plums. If he could only give them a few more minutes they would be safe, and after some more running, and a moment's stop to don their clothes, would be out of the soldier's reach. And Tom didn't imagine that they would ever let the troops get close enough to catch them, either.

"I've got you now, you Irish villain," he yelled at the sputtering Tim. Tom reached out and caught the flying foot in front of him, and in a minute had Tim ducked head-foremost under the water.

The soldiers set up a shout of laughter at this, and letting Tim come to the surface, Tom renewed the splash-fight, treading meanwhile with his feet. Tim, however had had quite enough by this time, and was heading for land as fast as his tired arms and legs would propel him.

He arrived sputtering and breathless, and shouted as best he could with a mouth full of salt water, "Enough. I've got enough, you old duck. Just 'cause I give you a friendly pat, up you go and chase me over the face of the whole earth."

"If that was a friendly pat, I'm glad you didn't push me hard," replied Tom, laughing.

A bugle rang out in the woods just then, and the men made a hasty dive for their clothes, some of them not even stopping to dry perfectly. While they were rushing around, a group of officers appeared at the edge of the timber on their way to the beach.

"Where are those other two?" suddenly queried the corporal, recalled to his sense of duty by the appearance of the officers.

"Gone on up to the camp, I suppose," said Tim. "Sure, an' if they were as hungry as me they would be eating ye out of house and home by now."

Tom felt that by this time the two sailors had gotten a fair start, and his spirits were rising proportionately, when of a sudden a shot, followed by several scattering reports, rang out.

"Come along, you two!" shouted the corporal, and the two boys were hustled unceremoniously up the beach, donning their clothes as best they could while trotting along. The officers had turned and dashed back toward the encampment, and when the soldiers with their captives reached there the whole place was in confusion, with troops rushing in all directions, shouting and firing their muskets at random into the woods.

"This cooks our goose," said Tom. "They are evidently disturbed at something, and I can see where we come in for our share of the trouble."

"It must be the captain and the mate they are blazing at," suggested Tim. "Sure, and they will never hit a thing at all at the rate they are firin' and rushin' around."

"I hope they don't," said Tom.

"Come this way, ye rebels!" bellowed the excited corporal.

"Don't pay any attention when he calls us rebels," said Tom. "Don't let him see that we recognize the name at all."

At their apparent indifference to his commands, the corporal ran up and grasping them each by an arm, hurried up to the central tent. An officer in a major's uniform was talking to a young man as they were brought up, and gave no heed to their presence till he was finished.

The boys listened eagerly, and were greatly astonished to hear what was going on between the two.

"A piece of rank carelessness on the part of the men," the major was saying. "They were both securely guarded, and should never have escaped, but the minute our backs are turned these hired troops forget their duty, and everything else but themselves, and give those rascals a chance that they didn't overlook."

"There'll be the dickens to pay when this gets to headquarters," said the young fellow in civilian's clothes. "We have got to get them again, or we will have to pay for it. I've followed those two for a full week or more, and had them almost secure three times, and every time they slip away when they seem safest. When we get them again we'll have to let nothing stand in the way of their safe return to Charleston."

"Don't worry, we'll get them again," returned the major. "With this force at our disposal, two young fellows like that can never successfully escape us for long."

"They better not or we might as well stay away too," replied the young man. "And, besides, I have a little personal matter to settle with one of them."

"So that's what makes you so anxious to get them, is it?" queried the officer.

"That makes me doubly anxious," answered the younger man.

"Do you know who they are talking about?" asked Tom, in a whisper.

"Sure, and it must be Dick Dare and Fritz," answered Tim.