"It'll touch de bottom ob de water, but I don't know 'bout de bottom ob de mud.

Ye musn't push her down too deep.
Dar's 'bout as much mud as water out dar in de creek." The more they talked about the matter, the greater became Harvey's disinclination to go over.

He was not a coward, but he was not used to the water or the management of a boat, and the trip seemed much more difficult to him than it would have appeared to a boy accustomed to boating.
"I tell you what we'll do," cried Harry, at last.

"You take my station, Harvey, and I'll go over and work your end of the line." There was no opposition to this plan, and so Harry hurried off with Harvey to Lewston's cabin and helped him to make the connections and get the line in working order at that end, and then he ran down to the boat, jumped in, and Lewston pushed him off.
Harry poled the boat along quite easily through the shallow water, and when he got farther out he found that he proceeded with still greater ease, only he did not go straight across, but went a little too much down stream.
But he pushed out strongly toward the opposite shore, and soon reached the middle of the creek.

Then he began to go down stream very fast indeed.