Tears stood in the veteran captain's eyes, as he thanked Jack, and Helen cried openly.
"Oh, Jack, I—I'd like to hug you!" she exclaimed, whereupon everybody laughed, and the emotional strain was over.
After a while, Captain Dennis began to tell of some of his adventures. Not only had he gone through many experiences on the sea, but also on land, and especially during the great Civil War.
"One time," said Captain Dennis, "while on a foraging expedition, our men were surprised, and before I knew what had happened I was a prisoner. I was taken to an old building and put in the upper story of it.
"Of course, I wanted to escape. So, after a while, I began to try my luck with the rope tied around my wrists. To my joy I found that I could move them. Half an hour later my wrists were free.
"I peered out of the window. It was a very dark night, and the guard set around the building was close and vigilant. I felt that my chances to escape were very small.
"Still, I determined to try. After listening many hours, I thought I learned the exact position of the sentries. The spaces between them were very short, but it would be quite possible, I thought, to pass by them noiselessly and without being perceived. I may as well state that the watch would have been even more strict had not the Confederates regarded the struggle as virtually at an end, and were, therefore, less careful as to their prisoners than they would otherwise have been.
"I prepared for escape by tearing up the sheet on the bed, and knotting the strips into a rope. I opened the window, threw out this rope, and slipped down to the ground. So far I was safe.
"It was dark and foggy, and very difficult to see two feet in advance. I soon found that my observations as to the places of the sentries had been useless. Still, in the darkness and thickness of the night, I thought that the chance of detection was small.
"Creeping quietly and noiselessly along, I could hear the constant challenges of the sentries around me. These, excited by the unusual darkness of the night, were unusually vigilant.