As we left the dock, another large boat came out in
a pompous manner, and gave us chase; and as the day had been intensely
hot, a large line of clouds rolled over the bluff at the same time,
probably from the gulf _en route_ to the Atlantic, and moving slowly
across the river, gathered their black folds around the pine-tops,
shutting all up, river and forest, every thing but our chimneys, in utter
darkness. And now began a scene which combined little and great in a
manner quite fantastic. Boatmen swearing and yelling to each other as the
boats came near collision, and that infernal scream sounding off through
the pine barrens like some spirit newly damned; horses prancing and
threshing on the bows; men growling at cards, and over head thunder and
lightning leading off the storm in a very brilliant and point-blank
manner; all which was quite rousing and melo-dramatic. While I was
noticing the pilot's manner of steering by flashes, a gentleman came up,
whom I recognised as a resident of St. Augustine; and as he had a horse at
Picolata, we agreed to go over together that night, as the darkness was
rather favorable, and the road being sandy, we could ride rapidly without
being heard.

It was late in the evening when we reached Picolata; and with a good deal
of uproar, men shouting, steam puffing, and half a dozen blacks
gesticulating on shore, we each made a fortunate leap to the dock; and
walking up to the camp in a blaze of pitch-pine, we ordered our horses,
and at eleven o'clock entered the pine woods for St. Augustine. 'I
wouldn't go over to-night,' said the man as he brought up my horse; 'the
rascals have been seen about here within a day or two; for God's sake,
Sir, _don't_ go over to-night!' But this only gave a keener zest to the
ride. I had carried with me every where a double-barrelled gun, but I had
found it an awkward companion, and having been all day in the saddle I
concluded to leave it to be sent over, and mean time trust to my friend's
pistols.

The rain had ceased, and the wind had gone down, but the night was still
so dark that we could only guess at the road by the strip of light over
head, and now and then a flash, which would light up the avenue for a long
distance ahead, and then leave it still darker than before. As we entered
the barren at an easy trot, I was pleased to notice that the darkness or
the storm had tamed my little grey into a very sober humor, and his
companion also was in a very mora