CHAPTER XXIII.

THE STORM. On the little stern seat of the boat Mercer and Anina sat side by side, the girl steering by a small tiller that lay between them. They were well out in the middle of the river now, speeding silently along with its swift current. They made extraordinary speed. Both banks of the river were visible in the twilight--dim, wooded hills stretching back into darkness. The stream widened steadily as they advanced, until near, its mouth it had become a broad estuary. They followed its right shore now and soon wer…