"About half an hour ago."
"By the way, do you know how to row?"
"A little."
"I was thinking that we might borrow this boat, and have a little row on the pond. What do you say?"
"I should like it," said Robert, promptly, for he had a boy's love of the water. "Shall I unfasten the rope?"
"Yes, I wish you would."
Robert at once sprang to the tree, and quickly untied the rope and set the boat free.
"All ready, Mr. Cromwell!" he cried. "Jump aboard, and I will get in afterward."
James Cromwell stepped into the boat, his heart beating quick with the thought of the deed which he meditated. His courage almost failed him, for he was of a timid nature, but the thought of the stake for which he was playing, renewed his courage, and he resolved that, come what might, that night should be Robert Raymond's last.