Only now and then the slightest splash was to be heard along the line, and this might well have been taken for the spring of a tiny fish feeding.
Several times, when he thought he heard a slight sound in the forest on his right, Nat ceased paddling, and lay for some minutes motionless, the canoes behind doing the same.

So dark was it, that they could scarce see the trees close beside them, while the bright flashes from the guns from fort and batteries only seemed to make the darkness more intense.

It was upwards of an hour before James felt, from the greater speed with which the canoe was travelling, that Nat believed that he had got beyond the spot where any Indians were likely to be watching in the forest.
Faster and faster the boat glided along, but the scouts were still far from rowing their hardest.

For, although the whole of the men were accustomed to the use of the paddle, the other boats would be unable to keep up with that driven by the practised arms of the leaders of the file.

After paddling for another hour and a half, the scout stopped.
"We are far enough away now," Nat said.