As we talked an undermined bank toppled over, sounding like shots from a gun.  One cocked his rifle on the impulse, then laughed when he realized what it was.  Just before we parted one of them remarked, “You came through the Bee River four days ago, near a telephone, didn’t you?” “Yes, but we didn’t see any one,” I replied.

“No?  But we saw you!” And we felt the smiles we could not see.

They said the large ranch had some Chinamen clearing the highest ground, and building levees around it to keep the water out.  The telephone and a motor boat connected the different ranches.  Their advice to us was to keep to the river, not to look for the ranch, but to get on the telephone and raise a racket until some one showed up.

Then we parted to go to our respective landings, with mutual wishes for a successful journey.  The boat was pulled down.  The tide was on the point of turning, but it would be an hour before there would be any strength to it.  I went to shore and built a fire of some driftwood, for the long stand in the water had chilled me.  Al stayed with the boat.  Earlier in the day, I cautiously shook the sticks loose from the matted grass, fearing the rattlers which were everywhere.  In this case nothing buzzed.  But I had no sooner got my fire well started when a rattler began to sing, roused by the light and the heat, about twenty feet away.  My fire was built beside one of the many sloughs which cut back through the grass and ended in the barren soil.  These sloughs were filled with water when the tide was in and made ideal landing places, especially if one had to avoid a big tidal bore.  Getting on the opposite side of the fire, I tossed a stick occasionally to keep him roused.  Soon another joined, and between them they made the air hum.  By this time I was thoroughly warmed and felt that the boat would be the best place for me.  Carefully extinguishing my fire, I went down to the river just as the tide returned.  Without any sign or call from the shore we were carried up with the tide.  We were both weary but I dared not sleep, so I merely kept the boat away from the shores and drifted, while Phillipps slept.  I had picked out a guiding star which I little needed while the current was running strong, but which would give us our course when the tide changed, for we could be carried out just as easily.

But an hour after we left our camp another light appeared, growing larger and larger.  It was one of two things.  Either my fire was not extinguished, or a match thrown down by one of the others had fired the deep dry grass.  I consoled myself that it could not spread, for the sloughs and the barren soil would cut it off.  I had a grim satisfaction when I thought of the snakes and how they would run for the desert land.  This was a real guiding star, growing larger and larger as we were carried up the stream.  I slept on shore when the tide would take us no farther.  Phillipps got breakfast.