The next instant we were away down the river, clawing with might and main to keep out of the woods.

We tried the experiment four times.

I stood on the forecastle companion way to see.

It was astonishing to observe how suddenly the boat would spin around and turn tail the moment she emerged from the eddy and the current struck her nose.

The sounding concussion and the quivering would have been about the same if she had come full speed against a sand-bank.