I am holding this pistol within a foot of your head, and your life means nothing to me if you try any trick.
What is the speed of this boat up stream ?" "'Bout ten mile an hour, sah." "Well, don't push her too hard at first, and run that engine as noiselessly as possible.

Are you ready?
Yes--then I'll cut loose." I severed the line and we began to recede from the shore, cutting diagonally across the decidedly swift current.

Once beyond the protection of the point the star-gleam revealed the sturdy rush of the waters, occasionally flecked with bubbles of foam.

Sam handled the unwieldy craft with the skill of a practiced boatman and the laboring engine made far less racket than I had anticipated.

Ahead, nothing was visible but the turbulent expanse of desolate water, the Illinois shore being still too far away for the eye to perceive through the darkness.
Behind us the Missouri bluffs rose black, and fairly distinct against the sky, but dimming constantly as the expanse of water widened to our progress.