eBooks Base 2000

Now, neither spoke
for at least three hours. Tayoga, in the prow, made occasional strokes
of his paddle, but the current remained swift and the speed of the canoe
was not slackened. The young Onondaga devoted most of his time to
watching. Much wreckage from storms or the suction of flood water often
floated on the surface of these wild rivers, and his keen eyes searched
for trunk or bough or snag. They also scanned at intervals the green
walls speeding by on either side, lest they might pass some camp fire
and not notice it, but finding no lighter note in the darkness he felt
sure that no hostile bands were near.
About midnight the force of the current began to abate and Robert and
Willet used the paddles. The darkness also thinned. The rainless clouds
drifted away and disclosed a full moon, which turned the dusk of the
water to silver. The stars came out in cluster after cluster and the
skies became a shining blue. The wilderness revealed itself in another
and splendid phase, and Robert saw and admired.


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