CHAPTER FOURTEENTH 



DRIFTING 



"\>TAKE an early start if you wish an 

 Uf*- eventful outing. Why know the world 

 only when the day is middle-aged or old? 

 A wise German has said, " The morning 

 hour has gold in its mouth." For many a 

 rod after leaving the wharf the river still 

 " smoked," and the scanty glimpses between 

 the rolling clouds of mist spurred the im- 

 agination. There was nothing certain be- 

 yond the gunwales. The pale-yellow color 

 of the water near at hand and the deep-green 

 and even black of that in the distance had 

 no daytime suggestiveness. It was not yet 

 the familiar river with its noonday glitter 

 of blue and silver. 



It is not strange that the initial adventure to 

 which the above-mentioned conditions natu- 

 rally gave rise occurred while this state of un- 

 certainty continued. Very soon I ran upon a 

 15* 73 



