The distance
we could see in either direction was of tantalizing shortness, and the
boat was provided with no means of guidance or control, save an
abundance of slender twine which secured it to a log of drift from the
outside; so I decided to leave my companions in charge of the main coil
of twine while I went on an excursion alone, there being not much
evident cause for apprehension as no living cow could ever have made the
trip to this favored spot.
Although the water looked perfectly placid, the boat drifted with
surprising speed, so that the two scared faces peering after me were
soon lost sight of. The channel was nowhere more than six feet wide,
consequently as the boat inclined to drive against either wall I was
able with care to keep it off the rocks with my hands, and in the same
way guide it around the sharp turns in safety. After several of these
turns there appeared the mouth of a passage so much smaller that the
roof was only twelve inches above the sides of the boat and I could
touch both walls at the same time. By running the boat across this it
was held in place by the current, and I could sit at ease and enjoy the
position, which even the least imaginative person can readily conceive
to have been a novel one.
The small eyeless fish had been noticeable in the water everywhere but
now came swimming about the boat in an astonishing multitude, and as
unconscious of any possible danger as bees in a flower garden.
Pages:
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104