"Fine eating here," declared Barringford. "We won't want for fresh meat for a while." And that evening they cut the deer up and fixed a portion of it for carrying and also dined on the tenderest of venison steaks.
One day succeeded another, and much to their surprise and satisfaction they saw nothing of any Indians. Once they passed what had been a village, but it was deserted, and only a stray dog, lean and hungry, came down to the river bank to bark at them.
"The redskins must be off to the war," said Dave, and he was right.
On the following day they reached the point where they had to leave the river. A march of eighteen miles through the wilderness to a smaller stream was before them. As the canoe had proved such a friend, they resolved to carry the craft with them.
"It will take time, but a canoe will be better than a raft, when we do get to that other watercourse," said the old frontiersman.
Thus far they had avoided nearly every post or fort that lay in their course, fearing to fall into the hands of the Indians who might be in such vicinities.
The way through the wilderness proved tedious, and when the next river was gained, both were glad enough to go into camp and rest for one whole day. The brambles had torn their clothing and they spent an hour in mending the rents. Then, when rested, they took a bath, which refreshed them not a little.
The watercourse was shallow and in spots so narrow that they had to fairly pull their way between the bushes. But journeying thus was better than walking, and in a few hours they reached a spot where the current carried them onward at a fair rate of speed, so that they could rest from paddling. Gradually the river widened, until they gained a tiny lake, located in the very heart of the wilderness. On two sides were trees of immense size, and elsewhere great rocks loomed up, over which, in one spot, flowed a tiny waterfall.
"This is simply sublime!" murmured Dave. "I had no idea it was so beautiful. It puts me in mind of certain spots on the Kinotah and the Monongahela."
At the other end of the lake, called by the Indians Sho-go-hepack, the river continued its course to the north-westward, and without resting that afternoon, they moved onward, covering sixteen more miles by sunset. Then they reached a series of shallows, and had to carry the canoe two miles over the rocks and through the wet places.