158 Winkle: the Eel-Man 



report his death and institute a search for 

 his body. 



What a ride was that back to Winkle's 

 cabin ! I felt hurried and yet could make 

 no headway. There was but one oar in the 

 boat, and I could not scull except in an awk- 

 ward way. To paddle was infinitely slow, 

 and the water often too deep to use the oar 

 as a pole. The tide, too, was against me. 

 How sombre the world looked ! The sun 

 was red ; the leaves dingy ; the waters black. 

 I had brought Winkle to his death, and to 

 announce the tidings thereof was an un- 

 pleasant anticipation. I must, nevertheless, 

 sound an alarm, and, be the outcome what 

 it might, would be a prominent figure in a 

 most gruesome affair. The creek seemed to 

 lengthen as I worked my way up-stream. 

 Every snag at Willow Bend held me fast, 

 and the tall poplars cast such black shadows 

 across the channel that they seemed effe&ual 

 barriers to my progress. I paddled, poled, 

 and lamely sculled until at last his cabin was 

 in sight, and then my strength failed me. 

 The spot no longer had any attraction for 

 me, and yet I could look only in the one 

 dire&ion; stared so intently and so long 



