Albert hallooed again and again at it, but the mysterious cause of this dipping and dashing was deaf to all cries for help.

Or if not deaf, this oarsman seemed as incapable of giving reply as the "dumb old man" that rowed the "lily maid of Astolat" to the palace of Arthur.
But it was no oarsman, not even a dumb one.

The lightning for which Albert prayed came at last, and illumined the water and the shores, dispelling all dreams of canoe or oarsman.

Charlton saw in an instant that there was a fence a few rods away, and that where the fence crossed the stream, or crossed from bank to bank of what was the stream at its average stage, long poles had been used, and one of these long and supple poles was now partly submerged.

The swift current bent it in the middle until it would spring out of the water and drop back higher up.