s of mist trailed lower still
and seemed almost to snare their fringes on the topmost branches of the
forest. Close under the protecting river-bank sped our light canoes,
cutting their way through the gray waters. The dark-skinned crews bent
to the paddle silently, with corded muscles tightening in their lean
brown arms, and still, impassive faces fixed upon the seething current
or the swiftly flying shores.

The gloom deepened slowly with the coming of the night. The waters
darkened, the dun forest became black and vague. At last, to my eyes,
it seemed that the sailing shadows in the sky, the inky, swirling
stream, and the mysterious shores blended in one all-pervading
impenetrable midnight. I could not realize that we were moving; it
seemed, rather, that we alone were still, while over us and around us
the spirits of the night flew past. I felt the wind of unseen wings
lifting my hair; I heard the splash and gurgle of strange creatures
swimming by. With my hands close locked on Barbara's arm, and wide eyes
staring into nothingness, I waited for some human sound to break the
palpitating silence.

Finally the padre spoke. He asked some question in the Indian tongue.
One of the rowers grunted in reply, and there was a sudden cessation of
the rapid paddle-strokes. Then a signal was given to the other canoe,
and after some further discussion I felt that we approached the shore.
There was a scraping, jarring sound, followed by the soft trampling of
feet upon a marshy bank; and then a hand drew me up and guided me to
land.

"The tide is running too strongly against us," explained the voice of
Padre Felipe. "We will rest an hour or two and wait for it to turn."

They kindled a fire somehow and spread a blanket upon the damp ground.
I remember that Barbara and I stretched ourselves upon it and I laid my
head against the dame's shoulder,--then weariness overcame me.

It seemed the very next moment that I was roused; but the fire was out,
and in the sky glimmered a few dim stars. There was a strange calm
reigning as we re-embarked; for the wind had died and the whole aspect
of the night had changed. All around us a faintly luminous sky lifted
itself above the dense horizon line, and the broad bosom of the river
paled to the hue of molten lead. Still brighter grew the heavens; the
thin clouds drew aside, and the crescent of a waning moon spilled glory
over us. And now our dark piraguas sped over the surface of a silver
stre