★ XXII ★
Two hours later the taxicab came out on the river at a point where a side road ended at a steamboat wharf. As near as Neill could judge they were opposite the spot where the big ships were moored. The river was over a mile wide, and the opposite shore was lost in the misty darkness.
Except for the shed on the wharf there were no buildings near by except a cottage standing on the top of a grassy bank about thirty feet above. Probably the home of the wharf-tender. No light showed in any window. The heavy scent of wild-grape flowers hung on the air; there was no wind and silence brooded over the countryside that made the city driver murmur:
“Boy! It would scare you down here when you turn off the engine.”
“It’s a great country,” said Neill. “If a man could only quiet down lon
