Mrs.Flushing strode to the river-bank in high spirits.

The day had been long and hot, but she had enjoyed the speed and the open air; she had left the hotel which she hated, and she found the company to her liking.

The river was swirling past in the darkness; they could just distinguish the smooth moving surface of the water, and the air was full of the sound of it.

They stood in an empty space in the midst of great tree-trunks, and out there a little green light moving slightly up and down showed them where the steamer lay in which they were to embark.
When they all stood upon its deck they found that it was a very small boat which throbbed gently beneath them for a few minutes, and then shoved smoothly through the water.

They seemed to be driving into the heart of the night, for the trees closed in front of them, and they could hear all round them the rustling of leaves.