"No find a boat, put lot ob 'tick togedder and float down de ribber
home."
"Ah, well, we'll see," I said; and we continued our journey for hour
after hour, always finding some fresh beauty to entice me, or living
object for Pomp to stalk and beg me to shoot. But though we looked here
and there as well as we could, there was no sign of the object of our
search; in fact, I soon began to feel that I had embarked upon an
enterprise that was almost an impossibility.
The river had now grown a little swifter, and though there was plenty of
swampy land down by its banks, it seemed as if we were getting into a
more elevated region, the margin being higher, and here and there quite
precipitous, but it was always more beautiful, and the objects of
natural history grew frequent every hour.
Now it was a squirrel, of which there seemed to be great numbers; then
all at once, as we were threading our way through the low bushes,
something sprang up from its lair and went bounding off among the trees,
giving me just a glimpse of a pretty head with large eyes and small
horns, before it was gone.
"Oh, Mass' George, you ought shoot dat," said Pomp, reproachfully. "Dat
berry good to eat."
"If I had been on the look-out, I could not have hit it," I said. "But
I say, Pomp," I continued, looking round as we came upon a high sandy
bluff through which the river had cut its way, and whose dry, sun-bathed
sides offered a pleasant resting-place, "aren't you tired?"
"No," said the boy, thoughtfully, "Pomp not bit tired, only one leg."
"Well, are you hungry then?"
"Dreffle, Mass' George. You like emp de walletum now?"
"Yes, we'll sit down and have a good meal, and then we shall have to
make haste back."
"Top lil bit, Mass' George," said the boy, cautiously.
"Oh no, there are no pins and forns there to 'tick in us," I said.
"No, Mass' George, but dat sort o' place for rattle tailum 'nake. I go
look fust."
I felt a shudder run through me at the mention of the noxious creature,
and brought the gun to bear as we advanced.
"No; no shoot," whispered the boy. "Big 'tick bess for 'nake."
We advanced very cautiously, with our eyes searching the ground, but
there was nothing in sight, and after selecting a comfortable place
where the sand had slowly been washed down from the bluff till it lay
thick and dry as when it is drifted on the seashore, we sat down, the
fine grains feeling delightful to our limbs, and made a hearty meal of
the remains left in the wallet.
It was wonderfully still there, the trees being quite motionless, and
the only sounds heard being the hum of some insect and the ripple of the
water a dozen yards away. High above us through the thin tracery of an
overhanging tree the sky looked of a brilliant blue, and away to left
and right extended the forest.
Pomp was lying face downwards, lazily scooping a hole in the sand, and
watching it trickle back as fast as he scraped it away, just as if it
were so much dry water in grains. I was lying on my back where the sand
sloped up to the bank; and as I gazed at the trees, half expecting to
see our boat sticking somewhere up among the branches, it seemed to me
as if I had never felt so happy and contented before. Perhaps it was
the soft, clear atmosphere, or the fact that I was resting, or that I
had just partaken of a pleasant meal. I don't know. All I can say is
that everything felt peaceful and restful; even Pomp, who as a rule was
like a piece of spring in motion. There was a lovely pale blue haze in
the distance, and a warm golden glow nearer at hand; the sun was getting
well to the west; and I knew that we must soon start and walk fast, so
as to get back, but I did not feel disposed to move for a few minutes.
We should be able to walk so much better after a rest, I thought, and we
should not stop to look for the boat, or at anything, but keep steadily
walking on, so that it would not take us a quarter of the time; and if
night did come on, the moon would rise early, and we could easily get to
the house.
How deliriously faint and blue that looked right away there in the
distance, and how still it all was! Even Pomp enjoyed the silence, and
I would not disturb him yet, but let him rest too. No fear of any
snakes coming if we were there, and in a few minutes I'd jump up, tell
Pomp, and we'd go and have a delicious bathe, and dry ourselves in the
warm sand; that would make us walk splendidly. But I would not wake him
yet--not just yet--I'd wake him presently, for he was so still that he
must have gone to sleep. There he lay with his face to the sand, and
his fingers half buried in the hole he had been scraping.
"What a fellow he is to snooze!" I thought to myself. "Lucky I'm not
so ready to go to sleep. How--how long shall I wait before I wake
him?--How long--how long--how--"