the confusion and tumult of the North River. Even Preston, confined below, knew by the wash of the ferries and the puff of the tugs, and all the rest of the medley, that New York was at hand.
The great engines stopped at last, backed, and stopped again. One screw pushed forward, the other pulled back. At the bow, half-a-dozen tugs grappled and pressed to port; at the stern, six others bumped in, snorting, and pressed to starboard, and at last the great liner was straight with its pier. Then came cries and the rush and rattle of feet.
Preston sank back.
"Well, now they'll be coming for me, I suppose!"
He arose as he heard steps approaching his door.
"I think, perhaps, I can tell you who he was, gentlemen." Preston greeted the astonishment of the special officers calmly. "But don't ask me how he did it. That is what I myself want to know."
327
