The air was full of noise and smoke
This is past tense
It was used to show that the day was gloomy, dark and all-round horrible
I think it worked well as when saying the air was full of noise shows how noisy it was
I was quite nervous
This is a 1st person view
It was used to show the reader how scared and nervous the writer was
It worked well to show how the writer felt about the activity he/she was about to do
As the river finally came into view, we found ourselves a small clearing
Wow past tense again
Oh my god it's 1st person view
It was used to show the reader what the writer and her friends were seeing
It was also used to show the reader that the writer was safe
The story The Rivers Pawn is written using first person and past tense. This is used to show what the writer was feeling at the time and that it was in the past.