Nor could he decide on any plan of action that seemed in the least satisfactory.

He knew there was a town a mile or so below where the _Whatnot_ lay, and there he had determined to spend the night.

But for his desire to reach this place before darkness should wholly shut in, he would have boarded the _Whatnot_ merely to gratify the curiosity excited by her strange appearance.

As it was, he felt that he had no time to spare, and so hastened on.
It was quite dark as he approached the lights marking the town he was seeking; but as he drew near he discovered what appeared like a part of the levee slowly moving out from shore.

Above it rose dimly a white object that he had taken for a house, and still above this shown a lantern.