192 WALL STREET AND THE WILDS 



the doctor, "and you had better stay here, but I 

 have got to get back to-day." 



I was sorry he was going and I hated to take 

 the risk, but I hadn't the courage to tell how 

 scared I was. When we reached the river it was 

 a wild and to me a fearful sight and a man with 

 a boat whom the doctor found was reluctant to 

 go, declaring that for no other man in the country 

 would he attempt it. The craft was an old, leaky 

 dug-out, and President Sloane paddled in the 

 stern while the owner of the boat took the bow 

 and I sat in a puddle of water amidship and 

 bailed with a washbasin. The crossing was bad 

 enough, but landing among the trees was terrify- 

 ing. We were swept down stream for half a 

 mile before finding a chance to land and then 

 dodging between some trees and fending off 

 others, were finally capsized, but in shallow water 

 near the shore. The doctor commandeered the 

 first horse and buggy he found and on that Mon- 

 day afternoon it might have been said of him his 

 "driving is like the driving of Jehu the son of 

 Nimshi." When I complimented him on his skill 



