evening," and asking, "On what train may we expect you?"
About a score of little boys, the oldest not more than twelve, who had been swimming, gathered round as we read the letter, and sat in the water like fowl, eying us silently. When we started off they rose in a bevy, and plunged after us, swimming splendidly, one blue-eyed little fellow following my boat with extraordinary rapidity, using the overhand stroke like an expert.
It was then four o'clock, and we were about twelve miles from Danville. We paddled along dejectedly, knowing that our trip had lost its charm by this political interruption. But it was too late to regret. We were delayed soon by shallows and insignificant rapids, and before we had gone four miles the sun had sunk behind the hills.
To cheer us up we floated at last into deep water, and saw before us a scene of surpassing loveliness and repose. The narrow valley on the left was a marvellous picture of rural taste and comfort. A farm-house smothered in soft foliage, with roses trained over the porch, and in the garden the largest and most beautiful weeping-willow either of us had ever seen. A mile farther down we passed a fisherman, and he told us there were two strong rapids, some miles below, which
