went
southward, our hands and faces became blotched all over by the bites of
mosquitoes and flies, and we smothered ourselves under blankets to get
rid of them. At times we fished, and one evening, after we had passed
the expanse of water at the mouth of the Ohio, Nick pulled a hideous
thing from the inscrutable yellow depths,--a slimy, scaleless catfish.
He came up like a log, and must have weighed seventy pounds. Xavier and
his men and myself made two good meals of him, but Nick would not touch
the meat.

The great river teemed with life. There were flocks of herons and cranes
and water pelicans, and I know not what other birds, and as we slipped
under the banks we often heard the paroquets chattering in the forests.
And once, as we drifted into an inlet at sunset, we caught sight of the
shaggy head of a bear above the brown water, and leaping down into the
cabin I primed the rifle that stood there and shot him. It took the
seven of us to drag him on board, and then I cleaned and skinned him as
Tom had taught me, and showed Jean how to put the caul fat and liver
in rows on a skewer and wrap it in the bear's handkerchief and roast it
before the fire. Nick found no difficulty in eating this--it was a dish
fit for any gourmand.

We passed the great, red Chickasaw Bluff, which sits facing westward
looking over the limitless Louisiana forests, where new and wondrous
vines and flowers grew, and came to the beautiful Walnut Hills crowned
by a Spanish fort. We did not stop there to exchange courtesies, but
pressed on to the Grand Gulf, the grave of many a keel boat before and
since. This was by far the most dangerous place on the Mississippi, and
Xavier was never weary of recounting many perilous escapes there, or
telling how such and such a priceless cargo had sunk in the mud by
reason of the lack of skill of particular boatmen he knew of. And
indeed, the Canadian's face assumed a graver mien after the Walnut Hills
were behind us.

"You laugh, Michie," he said to Nick, a little resentfully. "I who speak
to you say that there is four foot on each side of ze bateau. Too much
tafia, a little too much excite--" and he made a gesture with his hand
expressive of total destruction; "ze tornado, I would sooner have him--"

"Bah!" said Nick, stroking Xavier's black beard, "give me the tiller.
I will see you through safely, and we will not spare the tafia either."
And he began to sing a song of Xavier's own:--

"'Maria