It was Roaring River into which Miss Briggs had been swept from the creek, and now her last hope seemed gone, for the stream was wide and full of floating logs and brush, and here and there dark objects brushed past her. The girl drifted on and on, chilled and exhausted, but still possessing a strength of will that kept her from letting go, as many another would have done in her circumstances.
Of how long she had been in the water Elfreda had not the slightest idea, but it seemed to have been hours, when suddenly she was halted by the roots of a tree on the bank of the river, from which the dirt had been washed away.
Grasping at the roots, Miss Briggs clung there resting. After a little she dragged herself over the roots and finally reached soft yielding earth.
“Thank God!” breathed Elfreda fervently, and stretching out she sank into a deep sleep of exhaustion.
When Miss Briggs awakened from that sleep the sun was shining, but there was a yellow haze in the air, and the odor of smoke was wafted to her on the morning breeze. Birds were singing in the trees, and the earth seemed at peace.
“J. Elfreda, you have done it this time!” she rebuked herself. “Why did you ever go into that terrible water? Oh, what has become of the others? This will never do. I must do something!” she cried, rousing herself and standing up to look about her.
What to do, was the perplexing question. It was then that Elfreda discovered a trail. Trees along the trail had been blazed, but the blazes were not new. The path had been used frequently, she observed, and led into the forest. For that the Overland girl was thankful.
After brief reflection, Miss Briggs decided to follow the trail that Fate had offered to her. It must lead somewhere, she reasoned. Had Elfreda been more familiar with life in the forest she would have known that this was either a trapper’s or a fisherman’s trail, but to her all forest blazes looked alike, so she plodded on slowly, keeping a sharp lookout for slashes on sides of the trees, and for signs of human habitation.
When an hour had passed, and the trail still led on, the girl began to lose heart. She sank down to rest and think, but as she peered underneath the low-hanging branches of under-brush and saplings, Elfreda made a discovery that set her pulses beating. There, less than fifty yards ahead of her, she saw a shack, and about it was a hedge of evergreens that undoubtedly had been placed there by human hands.
“Saved!” cried Elfreda, springing to her feet, forgetful of the aches and pains of a few moments before.