Then Renée found herself quite a heroine in the eyes of Valbonais, and was delighted to recall her experiences.
They left the cabin and journeyed on; slept in the woods that night and the next. There had been several feasts of berries; they saw some green plums and green wild grapes, but neither were tempting. Now, some way, it seemed as if they had lost their reckoning. The river certainly was to the west of them.
“And we must go southward.” said Wawataysee.
Their good fortune had failed them to-day. They had found nothing. They were tired and hungry. And if they were lost!——
They turned into an opening. Here ran a clear creek, at which they quenched their thirst.
“Let us follow it some distance at least. It must go to the river. It has quite a current.”
It suddenly widened out and grew larger as they went on. They glanced at each other in dismay.
“If it goes to the river, how can we cross so wide a stream? Could either of us swim with the child? I think it would be better to go back and cross where it is narrower.”
So they retraced their steps and found that it was fed by a rivulet on the other side, almost hidden by the grass. Valbonais paused a moment to enjoy the picture. Everywhere the most serene quiet. Songs of birds, the call of some animal, the rustle of a deer and the brown, startled eyes gazing at one. The green of the foliage with its light and varying shades, the long stretches of wild grass dotted with various-colored flowers, and here and there a silvery streak of sand like a silver ribbon.
On and on, the creek growing narrower. The man’s eyes caught sight of a young fallen tree.