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Show RIVER incredibly far away. It would have been hard to see a rowboat beyond them even if you were looking for it. The crew were all good old boys, mostly in their late twenties or early thirties, hard luck single working men, a lot like the kinds of guys you'd meet in construction fields or jails, my kind of folks. I talked to most of them, and they all said, "Jesus, I don't see how you got out from under there." "I don't either," "What did you do?" "I swam like hell." "Jesus." They'd shake their heads. "You're goddamn lucky to be alive." "I know." One tall, rangy, weather beaten man named Rex told me he was the one who spotted me in the river. "What were you doing?" I asked. "I was sweeping out the pilot house and was brushing it out over the catwalk when I saw the river was full of trash. All I could see of you was your back." "Whaf d you do?" "I went in the pilot house and told Cap'n Gale." "Whaf d you say?" "I said, "Cap'n, there's a body in the river.'" "You saved my life," I said. "Hmm. I still don't see how you got outta there. I knew a fella once fell off the bow and when he came out the other end there weren't even any pieces to pick up." -214- |