Should he go toward the town in search of Jim, and also to hire another boat?
That would involve the loss of two days, during which time the officer for whom he had telegraphed might arrive, and, failing to find him, go down the lake on a wild goose chase.
To attempt to search for the men, alone and on foot, seemed the height of folly, and while he stood near the water's edge deliberating upon the question of whether he could replenish his stock of provisions without paying a visit to the settlement, the rustling of the bushes proclaimed an arrival.
Jet looked around, half expecting to see his seedy friend of the previous evening come back to tell him it was all a joke, when the small guide Jim stepped into view.
He was evidently in the best of spirits, and gazed at Jet as if wondering why he was not welcomed more warmly.
"I've made two dollars, though I ain't got 'em yet, since I've been gone," he said, as he threw on the ground in front of the shanty a well-filled bag, "an' now there's as much grub in camp as will last us for a month, providin' we do a little cookin'."
"What made you stay so long?"
"Why, you see, it was to earn the two dollars I was tellin' about. I met a feller the other side of the carry what was askin' if I'd seen two men 'round here fishin', an' we had a real sociable talk——"
"Was that when you were going up to the village?" Jet interrupted.
"Of course."