"The river, as sure as anything!" admitted Teddy.
"Thank goodness!" sighed Jimmy. "The only thing that's been helping me keep up is the picture I've been drawing of a feller about my heft, squattin' amidships in that bully canoe, and bucking up against the current of the old Harricanaw. How far do you think we ought to go, before making our first camp, Ned; and will we be able to cook any supper, before turning in under our warm blankets?"
"Don't count your chickens before they're hatched!" said Frank.
"Now, what makes you try to throw cold water on a feller all the time?" complained Jimmy. "I like to see the silver linin' of the cloud, and think of things going good. Besides, we've got to eat, haven't we; and we left a pile of good grub along with the boats? If Ned says the word, I'm meanin' to dish up a supper that'll make us forget we're tired to death. We c'n hide the fire, like Injuns do when in a hostile country, by makin' the same in a hole, so the light won't show any distance. How's that, Ned; am I on?"
"Wait and see," was the only comfort the other would give the enthusiastic one, and with this, Jimmy had to rest content.
With the river in plain sight, they hurried their steps. The presence of the water acted like an inspiration to every scout; so that no one would believe they had just been complaining of weariness.
Ned grew more wary the closer they came to the river. All he wanted to make sure of was the location, so that he might be able to know whether they were above or below the place of the reeds.
Constant practice makes perfect, and Ned had so accustomed himself to fastening the prominent features of the landscape upon his memory that once he saw a place he never forgot it again.
In this case, if he failed to recognize anything along the bank of the river it would prove conclusively that he had never set eyes on it before. In that event, they could take it for granted that this was below the place where they had left the canoes.
Finally the others stopping, watched Ned scrutinizing the shore of the stream. Of course, they understood what his object must be, and nervously awaited his verdict, hoping, meanwhile, that it would be favorable, and that they were near the objects of their search.