At last we drew lots for the post of honor.
Twelve slips of folded paper, upon one of which was written "Thou art the man," were placed in a quart measure, and thoroughly shaken; then each member stepped up and lifted out his destiny.

At a given signal we opened our billets.

"Thou art the man," said the slip of paper trembling in my fingers.

The sweets and anxieties of a leader were mine the rest of the afternoon.
Directly after twilight set in Phil Adams stole down to the wharf and fixed the fuses to the guns, laying a train of powder from the principal fuse to the fence, through a chink of which I was to drop the match at midnight.
At ten o'clock Rivermouth goes to bed.

At eleven o'clock Rivermouth is as quiet as a country churchyard.