Keen as were his eyes, he could see little ahead of him
but the black water, now beaten into a comparatively smooth plain by the
steady rain.
Shif'less Sol had taken off his cap and the rain drove steadily on the
back of his head; but his body, thanks to the thick blanket wrapped so
tightly around his neck, remained dry.
Shif'less Sol was not uncomfortable. Neither was he alarmed or unhappy.
There was a strain of chivalry and romance in his forest-bred soul, and
the situation appealed to him. He was in a strong boat, his four faithful
comrades were with him, and he was piercing a new mystery, that of a vast
and unknown river. The spirit that has always driven on the great
explorers and adventurers thrilled in every nerve of Solomon Hyde,
nicknamed the Shiftless One, but not at all deserving the title.
The boat went steadily on in the blackness and the rain, and Sol's soul
swelled jubilantly within him. He could see perhaps thirty or forty feet
ahead of him over the smooth plain of black water, and at an equal
distance to right and left the black wall rose, also. So far as feeling
went, the land might be a thousand miles away, and he was glad of it.
"Which sea are we ploughin' through now, Paul?" he said.
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