"We must go over on a raft; it is not only cowld, but is gittin' cowlder."
"There's a storm brewing; it looks as black as ink off yonder."
At this moment the boys made a discovery which both pleased and alarmed them. Such a float as they needed was at their call. There lay a half dozen logs and trees fastened together by several withes, and with enough buoyancy to bear them to the other side. Even the pole to be used in propulsion lay upon the heavy timbers that were pulled just far enough against the bank to prevent them floating off with the current.
While it was pleasant to know that they would not have to go through the labor of constructing any thing of the kind, yet there was a cause for fear in the presence of the structure which led them to hesitate several minutes before using it.
It proved that some one had crossed from the other side upon it, while the withes were so white and fresh at the angles, where they were twisted open, as to show that the raft had been made but a short time.
The natural question was as to who could have been coming from the other way.
"I know," said Terry, compressing his lips and shaking his head.
"Who?"
"Winnebagos; they're so plintiful that it couldn't have been any one ilse, for they wouldn't have had a chance."
"I suppose you are right," remarked Fred thoughtfully, "for they do seem to be almost everywhere, though I can't understand why they should be coming this way."