"I must git across and put mesilf in such a position that he can lean on me, but I'm thinking it won't be the best thing to try it at this place, where so many may observe me."
It was only ordinary prudence that led Larry Murphy to make this decision. Brave as he was, and often so to the verge of recklessness, he was not the sort of person to run into danger unnecessarily. While it was not to be expected that he would find any more bridges to use in crossing the stream, there was reason to look for such a narrowing of the banks that he could make the leap, and he set out once more to find the spot.
To his disappointment the ground over which he was obliged to make his way changed for the worse. It became so broken that it was impossible in some places to progress without making detours that led him a considerable distance from the stream. As there was no saying whether or not these diversions were not at the very places where the water could be leaped, he was in anything but an agreeable frame of mind. This was not decreased when he suddenly tumbled down a cavity deep enough to bruise him severely.
His efforts to save himself where his eyes gave no help probably made the mistake worse.
"I'm thankful that I'm alive," was his honest thought when able to pull himself together. "I've had the best luck—whisht!"
At that moment he became aware that he was not alone.
CHAPTER XI.
IN A CORNER.
Larry Murphy's first thought, when he found he had stumbled into something in the nature of a cave, was that it might serve him as a refuge or a fort in the impending fight with the Shawanoes, who were certainly beginning to crowd him hard.