human
That's just what I expected. You see we have drove in here, and there's been just current enough to drift us on till the lower branches touched the bottom or caught in a snag; the water ain't flowing half a mile an hour now, and I reckon when the water begins to drop, which will be in a few days, if it holds fine, there won't be no current to speak of.
gpt
But we are not going to stay here a few days, are we, Hiram?
human
Well, lad, I ain't no particular wish to stay here no time at all, if you will just pint out the way for us to be moving on.
gpt
Well, we could all swim ashore, Frank said;
human
And how fur do you reckon the shore to be, lad?
gpt
About forty yards,
human
I reckon it to be miles, lad--twenty, perhaps, or forty for aught I know.
gpt
Yes, that is about it, lad. Don't you see them trees are all growing out by the water, and what looks to you like low bush is just the top of the underwood. The river, I reckon, must have riz twenty feet, and all this low land is under water. As I told you, we are near the mouth of the Arkansas, and for miles and miles the country ain't much better than a swamp at the best of times. You can swim to them trees, and roost up in the branches, if the fancy takes yer, and may be we may decide that's the best thing to do, when we have talked it over; but as to getting to land, you may put that notion out of your head altogether. I told you, lad, last night, I didn't like the lookout, and I don't like it a bit better this morning, except that I look to be dry and comfortable in another hour. What's to come after that I don't quite see.