Steamhissedandpanted。Atintervalstheengine-roombelljarreduponthecar。Atintervals，also，thetiller-chainsslidtoandfrowithadull，rattlingsound。Yet，owingtothesomnolentstillnesssettledupontheriver，thesesoundsescaped，failedtocatchone’sattention。
Throughthedrynessofthesummerthewaterwaslow。
Periodically，inthesteamer’sbow，adeckhandlikeaking，amanwithalean，，yellow，black-avisedfaceandapairoflanguishingeyes，threwoverboardapolishedlogasintonesofmeltingmelancholyhechanted:
“Se-em，se-em，shest！“
[“Seven，seven，six！“thedepthofwater，reckonedinsazheniorfathoms]