On swept the plank with its human burden, and soon the light broadened into a large flame.
It proved to be a fire built on a level bit of ground near the water's edge. A man sat in the glow of the fire evidently engaged in cooking his evening meal.
The sharp bark of a dog seemed to startle him.
"What is it, Tige?"
The dog darted down to the edge of the water, looked wistfully at the stream, then with a final bark plunged into the stream.
He seized one end of the plank and dragged it ashore.
A man, with the water running from him in streams, stood up in the fire-light regarding the dog-owner. "Hello!" exclaimed the man.
"Hello yourself."
"Who are you?"
"A gentleman of the naval service," answered August Bordine with a gruesome laugh.