After pushing the boat out into the stream, Terence and his companion allowed it to drift quietly for some distance; and then, getting out the oars, rowed hard until they were beyond the mouth of the river.

The tide was, they thought, by the level of the water where they had embarked, within an hour or two of flood.

They therefore determined to shape their course to the north of the point where they believed Jersey to lie, so that when tide turned, it would sweep them down upon it.

The wind was too light to be of any assistance, but the stars were bright, and the position of the north star served as a guide to the direction they should take.
It had taken them some considerable time to launch the boat, and they calculated that it was nearly midnight when they left the mouth of the river.

There was no occasion to row hard for, until it became daylight and they could see the island of Jersey, they could not shape their course with any certainty; and could only hope that by keeping to the north of it they would not find, in the morning, that the tide had taken them too far to the south.
"We are very lucky in our weather," Terence said as, after labouring at the heavy oars for a couple of hours, they paused for a few minutes' rest.