David hurried away and purchased the necessary articles. In addition, he also bought chocolate and a few other things he thought would be necessary. For him the tide had turned. For once he was without misgivings. At last he was about to embark on the great river; it was the beginning of a long voyage, but he was eager to entrust himself to the whims of the mighty stream to be wafted wherever fate decreed--as a chip drifts and eddies in obedience to the unseen forces that control its destiny. CHAPTER VI HARPOONING A RIVER MONSTER The man came, as promised, and carried the baggage from the inn to the boat. David had never lost sight of the fact that his belongings must be kept at the minimum; but he had added to them constantly--the hammock and net, for instance, and while all the articles were necessary ones, they increased the sum total until they now filled a large suit case and a bag. He followed the sailor as soon as he could settle his account and mail a few letters he had written the night before. It was still early in the morning. The batalao, which bore the name Elisa Ana in black letters on both sides, was scheduled to start before noon. But there were innumerable things to be attended to at the last minute. Don Marco made several trips into the city for things he had forgotten. Then the sailors went for personal supplies of matches and tobacco, which they might have purchased long before. And when, at three in the afternoon, everything was apparently in readiness, it was discovered that one of the men was missing. Two of the others were sent to find him but the trio did not show up until six o’clock. The captain was furious and berated them soundly, for now it was too late to start that day, but they would get under way very early the following morning. They were all required to remain aboard that night. David swung his hammock in a corner indicated by Don Marco and rigged his net over it. The heat was stifling and, worse still, the hammock was most uncomfortable; it sagged low in the middle while the ends were up high, so that David had to lie on his back with his body bent like a bow. He tossed about for a while and finally decided that if he was to secure any sleep that night it would have to be elsewhere than in the hammock, so he clambered out and stretched himself on the bare boards of the little forward deck. Don Marco had observed this action and asked the reason for it. “I can’t sleep all doubled up in the hammock,” David explained. “The ends must be too close together, because my head and feet are way up in the air.” “You don’t know how to use it,” the captain said with a laugh. “I will show you. Look! You have to lie crosswise, not in a straight line with the hammock.” David tried it, lying diagonally with his head in the upper right-hand corner and his feet in the lower left-hand corner. The effect was magical. The hammock straightened out flat and he was very comfortable.