"I shan't wade the stream."
"You can't jump it, for it is fifteen or eighteen feet wide, and a jump wouldn't be quick enough—to my way of looking at it. You'd land, and drop, sure pop."
"I shan't wade across, neither will I attempt to jump across," smiled the young major.
"Then how in thunder do you expect to get over to the island?" demanded Life, earnestly.
"Wait and see, Life; and in the meantime keep that spot well covered," answered Deck; and he pointed up the stream a distance of twenty yards.
"What has that spot got to do with your getting over there?"
"Everything."
"The stream is wider there by five feet than it is down below."
"Perhaps you had better not ask any more questions, Life. But don't fail to keep that point covered," concluded Deck; and in a moment more he had glided off through the brush bordering the stream.