“Right, Master Nic; but I must have a good drink o’ water first.”
“Yes,” said Nic, suddenly awakening to the fact that he was extremely thirsty, and he rose to his feet to utter a cry of horror.
“Pete—Pete! The boat! the boat!”
Pete leaped up and stared aghast, for the action of the running stream had loosened the thin remnants of the rope with which they had moored their boat. These had parted, and the craft was gliding rapidly away, a quarter of a mile down the river.
Chapter Thirty Three.
A Stern-Chase.
“Oh, why didn’t I watch it?” groaned Pete, in agony; and his next glance was along the bank of the river, with the idea of running till opposite the boat.
He groaned again as he grasped the fact that he could not run, only walk for two or three yards before the dense tangle of the forest commenced, and progress through that was impossible.