The boat was soon in the
current of the river again, and soon they would be at Tofton.
The
current was bearing her swiftly down the river, and she found that only by dint of the utmost exertion could she direct the awkward craft toward the vicinity of the Kincaid.
Next, for about a half an hour, I whoops now and then; at last I hears the answer a long ways off, and tries to follow it, but I couldn't do it, and directly I judged I'd got into a nest of towheads, for I had little dim glimpses of them on both sides of me -- sometimes just a narrow channel between, and some that I couldn't see I knowed was there because I'd hear the wash of the
current against the old dead brush and trash that hung over the banks.
The tug of the
current was strong upon her, like a giant hand reaching up out of the cruel river to bear her back to death.
As I lay there beneath the dark rocks I noticed that a strong
current seemed to flow directly toward the center of the river, so that it was difficult to hold my craft in its position.
The
current was about four miles an hour, with occasional rapids; some of them dangerous, but the voyagers passed them all without accident.
Crooks and one of his companions were thrown amidst roaring breakers and a whirling
current, but succeeded, by strong swimming, to reach the shore.
When they reached the place where the
current had before changed, the fish was still swimming ahead in its wild attempt to escape.
However, I worked hard till, indeed, my strength was almost exhausted, and kept my boat as much to the northward, that is, towards the side of the
current which the eddy lay on, as possibly I could; when about noon, as the sun passed the meridian, I thought I felt a little breeze of wind in my face, springing up from SSE.
"The
current's less a'ready, sir," said the man Gray, who was sitting in the fore-sheets; "you can ease her off a bit."
It happened that there was a sharp turn in the river at the point where the slough entered, and the whole main
current of the river was deflected to the other bank.
It is the quietest of seas; its
currents are broad and slow, it has medium tides, and abundant rain.
