“Hold on tight, my boy!  Pull for your life!” shouted the soldier, highly excited by the probable success of his philanthropic efforts.

“Save me!  Save me!” groaned Tom, as he tugged, or seemed to do so, at the bayonet.

Then, while the united exertions of the saver and the saved, in anticipation, were on the very point of being successful, the polished steel of the bayonet unaccountably slipped through the fingers of Tom, and the bateau was borne off towards the opposite shore.

“Save me!  Save me,” cried Tom again, in tones more piteous than ever.

“What d’ye let go fur?” said the grayback, indignantly, as his musket, which he had held by the tip end of the stock, dropped into the water, when Tom let go of the bayonet.

The soldier indulged in a volley of peculiarly southern oaths, with which we cannot disfigure our page, even in deference to the necessity of painting a correct picture of the scene we have described.  Tom had a vein of humor in his composition, which has already displayed itself in some of the rough experiences of his career; and when he saw the rebel soldier deprived of all power to make war upon him, either offensive or defensive, he could not resist the temptation to celebrate the signal strategical victory he had obtained over the picket guard.  This triumphal demonstration was not very dignified, nor, under the circumstances, very prudent or sensible.  It consisted in placing the thumb of his right hand upon the end of his nose, while he wiggled the four remaining digital appendages of the same member in the most aggravating manner, whistling Yankee Doodle as an accompaniment to the movement.

If Secesh did not understand the case before, he did now; and fishing up his musket, he emptied the water out of the barrel, and attempted to fire it.  Luckily for Tom, the gun would not go off, and he swept on his way jubilant and joyous.

CHAPTER XXIII.

The end of the voyage.

Tom Somers’s voyage down the Shenandoah was, in many respects, a type of human life.  He experienced the various reverses, the trials and hardships, which attend all sojourners here below.  He triumphed over all obstacles, and when he had completely outwitted the grayback who had labored so diligently to save him from his impending fate, he was at the zenith of prosperity.  He had vanquished the last impediment, and the lines of the Union army—­the haven of peace to him—­were only a short distance from the scene of his victory.

Prosperity makes men arrogant and reckless, and I am sorry to say that it had the same effect upon Tom Somers.  If he had been content modestly to enjoy the victory he had achieved, it would have been wiser and safer for him; but when Fortune was kind to him, he mocked her, and she turned against him.