Then, pushing his support
before him, he struck out for the middle of the stream.
CHAPTER XI
THE TAKING OF VICKSBURG
Dick was a fine swimmer, he had a good stout plank, and the waters of the
river were warm. He felt that the chief dangers were passed, and that
the muddy Mississippi would now bear him safely to the blockading fleet
below. He gave the plank another shove, sending it farther out into
the stream, and then raised himself up until his elbows rested upon it.
He could thus float gently with a little propulsion from his legs to the
place where he wanted to go.
He saw lights along the bluff and the bar below, and then, with a sudden
shoot of alarm he noticed a dim shadow move slowly from the shore.
It was a long boat, holding a dozen rowers, and several men armed with
rifles, and it was coming toward him. He did not know whether it was
merely an ordinary patrol, or whether they had seen the darker blot on
the stream that he and the plank made, but in any event the result would
be the same.
He slipped his arm off the plank and sank in the stream to the chin.
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