Traveling through the forest in the dark proved to be a harder task than Henry had anticipated. He went plunging along until several falls knocked the wind completely out of him and barked his shins mightily. At last he had to give it up and turned to the river, resolved to travel on the ice, even though the danger might be greater.
Coming down to the open he gazed around, and seeing nobody, stepped on the ice. It appeared to be firm, and he started on a swift trot, straight for the trading post.
Crack! Henry had not been on the ice over a minute when this ominous sound greeted him. He had come to where the surface was more than slushy. The ice bent beneath him.
“This won’t do!” he cried, and tried to turn toward the shore once more. But the movement came too late; down went the ice and Henry with it, and the next instant he was over his head in the chilling water.
Had Henry not been so robust and such a good swimmer he would have perished on the spot. As it was, the coldness of the water almost paralyzed him, and when he went down he could do little but gasp and splutter and reach out blindly. Then, when he came up, his head hit the under surface of the ice, and down he went as before.
The sturdy youth now realized that he had a life or death struggle before him. No one was at hand to give him aid, and if he was to be saved he must do it himself. As he came up once more he clutched at the under surface of the ice and felt around until he found something of an opening. Then, with might and main, he pulled himself up, until his head and shoulders were out of the water. It was high time, for he could no longer hold his breath.
The ice was all around him, but so rotten that it threatened at every instant to break away and let him down again. He was less than ten yards from the bank of the river, but try his best he could make no headway toward safety.
As Henry was wondering how long he could stand the cold and keep from losing his grip something along the shore attracted his attention. He gave a closer look and saw three Indians stealing along. That they were enemies he had not the slightest doubt, yet he hailed their appearance with a certain sense of joy. They could save him, even though they might make him their prisoner once more.
“Help!” he called, as loudly as he could. “Help!”
The Indians were at first startled by the call, and in a trice fled behind some trees and out of sight. But then they saw the youth’s head and noted his plight and came forth and ran to the edge of the river bank.