THE VISIT TO A SHORE BATTERY The first cutter reached the Seahorse Key closely followed by the second.

It was within an hour of high tide, the ordinary rise and fall of which was two and a half feet.

On the Key was a light house, and a cottage for the keeper of it; but the former was no longer illuminated, and the house was as dark as the head of the tower.

So far as could be discovered there was no one on the Key, though the boats did not stop to investigate this matter.

The crews still pulled a moderate stroke with their muffled oars, the men were not allowed to talk, and everything was as silent as the inside of a tomb.
The pilot stood up in the stern sheets of the cutter, gazing intently in the direction of the point nearly a mile ahead.