There were two ways for him to return home. One was to pull back up the bayou in the direction from which he had come, and the other to float down the stream until he reached the river.
There was one insurmountable obstacle in the way of carrying out the first plan, and that was, that alone and unaided he could not possibly propel his canoe against the current.
To the second plan there was also an objection—quite a formidable one, too—which, in order that you may understand what followed, I must explain at some length.
I have told you that the bayou emptied into the Mississippi River. About a mile above its mouth was a succession of falls, perhaps fifteen feet high, and at this point the bayou, which ran between two rocky bluffs, made a very abrupt bend. The foot of the bluff on the lower side had been worn away by the constant action of the water, causing the top to hang threateningly over the bed of the stream.
Against this bluff, and along the whole length of it, was piled a dense mass of logs and trees, thus forming a sort of cavern, open at both ends.
This cave went by the name of “Dead Man’s Elbow,” from the fact that more than one lumberman had lost his life there.
When the water was low it could be easily explored, and many a hot summer’s day had our fellows spent there fishing and shooting alligators; but during a freshet it was a dangerous place.
The space between the bluffs was so narrow that only a small portion of the water could pass over the falls, and the most of it found its way into this cavern, through which it rushed and roared with the speed of a small Niagara; and any thing that came within its reach was hurried along with almost incredible fury, and dashed upon the logs and rocks below.
This was the obstacle that Mark would be obliged to pass on his way to the river. Of course there was a possibility that he would accomplish the descent in safety, for he was a skillful boatman, and he knew that more than one canoe and dozens of heavy rafts had passed over the falls when the water was at its highest; but if any accident befell him—if he once allowed himself to be brought within the influence of the powerful current that set toward the cavern—if his paddle broke or he became exhausted, it would be “all day” with him.