Raymond S. Spears

“ The soft-paw wasn’t inviting any wild loon crazy man to find him, and the laughter was silent, too. In low voices the river-men tried to straighten out the wonder of their adventure. Of course, it was easy enough to explain a fool soft-paw floating down in the night, when he had tied up at dark. Soft-paws don’t know much about making boats fast to stakes or anything. But their own big boat had gone adrift.
Also, that laugh—that made chills in their souls. It never did anybody any good to hear hard laughing like that in a fog. No wonder the soft-paw had suddenly choked into silence. ”

“ The other pirates, too, began to swim. It was a thick fog, and they were close to the shanty-boat. Their splashing to a soft-paw’s inexperienced ears sounded some thing like dipping oars, and they were swimming fast.
“Look out!” Caroost cried. “You may ram me!”
Tid looked up into a great hanging lamp suspended from the bow of a shanty-boat porch; as he looked up, the shanty-boater looked down. The soft-paw for the moment was dazzled. He evidently saw the four heads coming in line en échelon, for he gave a slight squawk of astonished excitement. ”

“ CHAPTER III A HA-HA-HA IN THE RIVER NIGHT FOUR river-rats, treading water and cursing their luck, floated down Mendova Bend with their heads in the fog that hung black upon the night. They kept near enough to one another to talk in low voices, awed by their misfortune and wishing that they could find the scoundrel who had stolen their shanty-boat after they had filled it up with tons of loot from a water-front sporting-goods store. ”