“He won’t go far in the dark,” thought Dave. “Not as far as this, anyway, and as soon as it’s light I’ll get back to the river and keep on the watch for him.”
For some time he sat there in the dark, not daring to start a fire for fear the Indians would see the light. But his wet clothing chilled him through and through and afraid of getting sick if he remained all night in this condition he presently got out his flint and box and hunted for something for tinder. A bit of dry moss answered the purpose and it was not long before he had a roaring fire, placed in a hollow between several large rocks. He crouched down to warm and dry himself, and in this attitude fell asleep.
When Dave awoke the brightness of day was on him and he sprang up in dismay, fearing he had overslept himself. “Perhaps Sam had passed this way already,” was his instant thought and he lost no time in getting back to the river. But nobody was in sight, and once more he tramped on whence he had come the day before. He was now tremendously hungry, without any food with which to satisfy the cravings of his stomach.
“If I don’t find Sam by dinner time I’ll throw a line into the river and go fishing,” he told himself, but just then he contented himself with a drink of water.
On and on he tramped, through the forest and brushwood, and across small streams and bits of marshland. His sleep had rested him thoroughly and he made rapid progress.
When a turn of the river brought him in sight of the spot where he had first seen the Indians, he halted to reconnoitre. But not a single red man was anywhere in the vicinity, and satisfied of this, he pushed forward faster than ever, until he gained the fording place where all the trouble had originated.
“Dave! By all thet’s lucky! Wall now, but ain’t I downright glad to see ye ag’in!” came suddenly from a clump of nearby brush, and Sam Barringford ran toward the youth. “Are ye hurt at all?”
“No, I’m all right,” was the equally joyful answer. “And what of you? Did the Indians molest you?”
“Not a bit of it. They know me, and the minit they sot eyes on me they took their game and slid out on the double-quick. But tell me, where have ye been and why didn’t ye come after me, when I sot out after the runaway hoss?”
“I didn’t know you went after a runaway horse, Sam,” returned Dave, and told the story of his remarkable experience on the river. “As soon as I passed the Indians I didn’t think of anything but to save myself from drowning.”