Idiot, if he had not been in such a sweat to play his witless practical joke upon me, in the beginning, I would have persuaded his thoughts into some other direction, and saved him from committing that wanton and silly impoliteness.
I had myself called with the four o'clock watch, mornings, for one cannot see too many summer sunrises on the Mississippi.

They are enchanting.

First, there is the eloquence of silence; for a deep hush broods everywhere.

Next, there is the haunting sense of loneliness, isolation, remoteness from the worry and bustle of the world.

The dawn creeps in stealthily; the solid walls of black forest soften to gray, and vast stretches of the river open up and reveal themselves; the water is glass-smooth, gives off spectral little wreaths of white mist, there is not the faintest breath of wind, nor stir of leaf; the tranquillity is profound and infinitely satisfying.