mackintoshes, underneath the canvas,
and drifted slowly down.

One of us--I forget which one now, but I rather think it was myself--made
a few feeble attempts during the course of the morning to work up the old
gipsy foolishness about being children of Nature and enjoying the wet;
but it did not go down well at all. That--

"I care not for the rain, not I!"

was so painfully evident, as expressing the sentiments of each of us,
that to sing it seemed unnecessary.

On one point we were all agreed, and that was that, come what might, we
would go through with this job to the bitter end. We had come out for a
fortnight's enjoyment on the river, and a fortnight's enjoyment on the
river we meant to have. If it killed us! well, that would be a sad thing
for our friends and relations, but it could not be helped. We felt that
to give in to the weather in a climate such as ours would be a most
disastrous precedent.

"It's only two days more," said Harris, "and we are young and strong. We
may get over it all right, after all."

At about four o'clock we began to discuss our arrangements for the
evening. We were a little past Goring then, and we decided to paddle on
to Pangbourne, and put up there for the night.

"Another jolly evening!" murmured George.

We sat and mused on the prospect. We should be in at Pangbourne by five.
We should finish dinner at, say, half-past six. After that we could walk
about the village in the pouring rain until bed-time; or we could sit in
a dimly-lit bar-parlour and read the almanac.

[Picture: Lady in skirt] "Why, the Alhambra would be almost more lively,"
said Harris, venturing his head outside the cover for a moment and taking
a survey of the sky.

"With a little supper at the --- {311} to follow," I added, half
unconsciously.

"Yes it's almost a pity we've made up our minds to stick to this boat,"
answered Harris; and then there was silence for a while.

"If we _hadn't_ made up our minds to contract our certain deaths in this
bally old coffin," observed George, casting a glance of intense
malevolence over the boat, "it might be worth while to mention that
there's a train leaves Pangbourne, I know, soon after five, which would
just land us in town in comfortable time to get a chop, and then go on to
the place you mentioned afterwards."

Nobody spoke. We looked at one another, and each one seemed to see his
own mean and guilty thoughts reflected in the faces of the other