The slow minutes passed.

Some of the boys peered timidly into the dark, and clung closer to their neighbors.
"There they come!" said Gabriel suddenly, in a low voice, and in a few moments the beat of the oars was heard again.

Still nobody spoke.

Most of the boys were afraid that when the boat appeared they should see a dead body, and they dreaded it.

Some felt homesick, and began to cry.