Major Braithwaite was astonished.
"How in the name of Neptune do you ever expect to get back again, my young friend?" he exclaimed.
"We'll get back," replied the boy confidently. "Let us slip out as quietly as we can, Major, but if you see any movement of the Indians to gain that side you might open a covering fire."
"I'll do it," said the Major, "and God bless you both."
He wrung their hands and they slipped away.
The palisade fronting the river ran along the very edge of the cliff, which rose at a sharp angle and was covered with bushes clustering thickly. It was impossible for a formidable Indian force to approach from that side, climbing up the steep cliff, and but little attention was paid to it.
Henry and Seth Cole waited until one of the cannon was fired, hiding the flatboat in its smoke, and then they leaped lightly over the palisade, landing among the bushes, where they lay hidden.
"You're sure that no one saw us?" said Henry.
"I'm thinkin' that I'm shore," replied Seth.
"Then we'll go on down the cliff."