"Say not one word of our meeting."
"Since you wish it, I will be strictly silent on the subject. Like other people I know, I will invent some sort of story—it is not difficult."
The young man smiled, and shook him heartily by the hand. Then Samuel Dickson walked away in the direction of the camp, while George busied himself in the valley.
[CHAPTER VII.]
JOSHUA DICKSON BECOMES MASTER OF THE VALLEY.
After Samuel had walked some distance he found that he had miscalculated his strength. He was very weak about the ankle, and the way being rude and his load heavy, he could scarcely get along at all. Still he would not abandon the deer, knowing as he did how short of provisions they were in the camp.
Wiping the cold perspiration off his brow, the brave American resumed his journey.
The sufferings he endured it would be impossible to describe; at length he became scarcely able to drag one foot before the other; every now and then he had to stop, as the blood rushed to his head and myriad sparkles flashed before his eyes. He seemed to have the vertigo, his mouth was parched, his chest panting, his temples throbbing, and his eyes almost starting from his head.