PEPACTON 



of them observe to the other, as they were conduct- 

 ing me to the best place to land. They were bright, 

 good boys, off the same piece as my acquaintances 

 of the day before, and about the same ages, 

 differing only in being village boys. With what 

 curiosity they looked me over! Where had I come 

 from ; where was I going; how long had I been on 

 the way ; who built my boat ; was I a carpenter, to 

 build such a neat craft, etc. ? They never had seen 

 such a traveler before. Had I had no mishaps ? 

 And then they bethought them of the dangerous 

 passes that awaited me, and in good faith began 

 to warn and advise me. They had heard the tales 

 of raftsmen, and had conceived a vivid idea of the 

 perils of the river below, gauging their notions of 

 it from the spring and fall freshets tossing about 

 the heavy and cumbrous rafts. There was a whirl- 

 pool, a rock eddy, and a binocle within a mile. I 

 might be caught in the binocle, or engulfed in the 

 whirlpool, or smashed up in the eddy. But I felt 

 much reassured when they told me I had already 

 passed several whirlpools and rock eddies ; but that 

 terrible binocle, what was that ? I had never 

 heard of such a monster. Oh, it was a still, miry 

 place at the head of a big eddy. The current might 

 carry me up there, but I could easily get out again ; 

 the rafts did. But there was another place I must 

 beware of, where two eddies faced each other; rafts- 

 men were sometimes swept off there by the oars 

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