Now when I had mastered the language of this water andhad come to know every trifling feature that bordered thegreat river as familiarly as I knew the letters of the alphabet,I had made a valuable acquisition. But I had lost something, too. I had lost something which could never be restored to me while I lived. All the grace, the beauty, the poetry had goneout of the majestic river! I still keep in mind a certain wonderful sunset which I witnessed when steamboating was new to me. A broad expanse of the river was turned to blood; in the middle distance the red hue brightened into gold, through which a solitary log came floating, black and conspicuous; in one place a long, slanting mark lay sparkling upon the water; in another the surface was broken by boiling, tumbling rings, that were as many-tinted as an opal; where the ruddy flush was faintest, was asmooth spot that was covered with graceful circles and radiatinglines, ever so delicately traced; the shore on our left was densely wooded, and the sombre shadow that fell from this forest was broken in one place by a long, ruffled trail that shone like silver; and high above the forest wall a clean-stemmed dead tree waved a single leafy bough that glowed like a flame in the unobstructed splendor that was flowing from the sun. There were graceful curves, reflected images, woody heights, soft distances; and over the whole scene, far and near, the dissolving lights drifted steadily,enriching it, every passing moment, with new marvels of coloring.
"A rise starts the drift-wood, but then it keeps on floating a while after the river is done rising. Now the bank will tellyou about this. Wait till you come to a place where itshelves a little. Now here; do you see this narrow belt offine sediment? That was deposited while the water washigher. You see the drift-wood begins to strand, too. Thebank helps in other ways. Do you see that stump on thefalse point?"
The fire drove all into the wood-flat that could be accommodatedthere; it was cut adrift, then, and it and the burning Page 242steamer floated down the river toward Ship Island.They moored the flat at the head of the island, and there,unsheltered from the blazing sun, the half-naked occupantshad to remain, without food or stimulants, or help for THE FIRE DROVE THE AXEMEN AWAY.
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