He realised how these people were dependent on him, and how they would feel their dependence (if he failed to turn up) through a long month of anxious waiting.

Prompted by his sensitive humanity, Davidson, in the gathering dusk, turned the _Sissie's_ head towards the hardly discernible coast, and navigated her safety through a maze of shallow patches.

But by the time he got to the mouth of the creek the night had come.
"The narrow waterway lay like a black cutting through the forest.

And as there were always grounded snaggs in the channel which it would be impossible to make out, Davidson very prudently turned the _Sissie_ round, and with only enough steam on the boilers to give her a touch ahead if necessary, let her drift up stern first with the tide, silent and invisible in the impenetrable darkness and in the dumb stillness.
"It was a long job, and when at the end of two hours Davidson thought he must be up to the clearing, the settlement slept already, the whole land of forests and rivers was asleep.
"Davidson, seeing a solitary light in the massed darkness of the shore, knew that it was burning in Bamtz's house.

This was unexpected at this time of the night, but convenient as a guide.