"Do you expect to bring a gun weighing six hundred in this little boat?"
"We'll see," I replied.
"We are on a fool's errand."
"You wait and see."
"I think you are smart, Phil, after what you did last night; but you might as well try to drink up the Missouri as to bring that gun in this boat," persisted the soldier.
"Let Phil alone," said Morgan, the oarsman, who seemed to have more confidence in my ability than his companion.
We landed at the south end of Paradise Island, because there were no bluffs to interfere with our operations. Securing the boat, we walked up the hill to the house. I was still thinking of the plan by which the gun was to be transported to the main shore, when I was startled by the crack of a rifle from the direction of the house.
CHAPTER XVIII.
IN WHICH PHIL FIGHTS THE INDIANS ON THE ISLAND.