He blandly and sweetly took his
tooth-pick out of his mouth between his fingers, as if it were a cigar -
we were just in the act of climbing an overhanging big tree, and the
passengers were scudding astern like rats - and lifted up these commands
to me ever so gently -
'Stop the starboard. Stop the larboard. Set her back on both.'
The boat hesitated, halted, pressed her nose among the boughs a critical
instant, then reluctantly began to back away.
'Stop the larboard. Come ahead on it. Stop the starboard. Come ahead
on it. Point her for the bar.'
I sailed away as serenely as a summer's morning Mr. Bixby came in and
said, with mock simplicity -
'When you have a hail, my boy, you ought to tap the big bell three times
before you land, so that the engineers can get ready.'
I blushed under the sarcasm, and said I hadn't had any hail.
'Ah! Then it was for wood, I suppose. The officer of the watch will
tell you when he wants to wood up.'
I went on consuming and said I wasn't after wood.
'Indeed? Why, what could you want over here in the bend, then? Did you
ever know of a boat following a bend up-stream at this stage of the
river?'
'No sir, - and I wasn't trying to follow it.
