"In a boat or on a raft."
"Wa'al," laughed Badger, "they didn't have no boat, and if they tried a raft, why that'd be the same as committin' suicide."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean that I've knowed of men as got into the great cañon of the Colorado, but no one knows of any that came out on a raft. The boy's dead as a door nail by this time, and you're a rich man," said Badger, reaching out his hand.
[CHAPTER XV.—THE PROVISIONS ALL GONE.]
When the raft was repaired, the blankets, arms, and little stock of food were put on board and securely fastened, each one took his accustomed place, with Maj in the middle, and the voyage was resumed.
How far they had come, Sam had no means of telling, he only knew to his sorrow that he was being borne further and further away from his father.
Without this awful anxiety on his mind, the situation would have been sufficient to shake the nerves and courage of a strong man.
The brave youth felt that he was not only battling in these depths for his own life, but for the lives of those whom fate had thrown with him on this most thrilling voyage.
He fully realized the situation, and the fortitude with which he faced it redounds the more to his credit.