"I'm ready now, sir."
"We can't see to travel before dawn. Help Tom load the lightest boat with rations for five days. If we run short we'll 'Siwash' it." He kicked off his rubber boots, up-ended them to drain the water out, then flung himself upon his bed of boughs and was asleep almost before the two had recovered from their surprise.
"Five days—or longer!" Slater said, gloomily, as he and Dan began their preparations. "And me with indigestion!"
"What does it mean?" queried Appleton.
"It means I'll probably succumb."
"No, no! What's the meaning of this change of plan? I can't understand it."
"You don't need to," "Happy Tom" informed him, curtly. There was a look of solicitude in his face as he added, "I wish I'd made him take off his wet clothes before he went to sleep."
"Let's wake him up."
But Slater shook his head. "I'd sooner wake a rattlesnake," said he.
O'Neil roused the members of his expedition while the sky was reddening faintly, for he had a mind which worked like an alarm-clock. All except Appleton had worked for him before, and the men accepted his orders to await his return with no appearance of surprise.