Of course the boys had to tell their story over and over again, while many questions were asked regarding the coming of the Indians.
“How do you think they knew we were there?” asked Mr. Harkness.
“Pat says a brave must have sighted the boat, and followed it until we came to land,” remarked Bob. “Then he hastened to his village, which may be back here a few miles, and a war party was hurriedly made up. Only for our discovering them as they passed along that ridge, the end might not be so nice as it is.”
It was determined that their best course would be to put boldly across the river, and pass down the northern shore. This could be accomplished by means of the big sweeps; and already several of the men were working them.
An hour or two later they were in touch with the northern side of the stream; and, as the moon began to show signs of setting, they determined to anchor, as the recent scare had taken away all desire to tie up to the shore.
There was no further trouble that night, and another morning found them in high spirits. Pat’s sprain still bothered him, more or less, and would for some days to come; but Mrs. Armstrong had bound some of her wonderful healing salve upon the swollen ankle, and the trapper declared he was doing much better than he had even hoped would be the case.
A day of peace followed. They drifted along not a great distance from the shore, and yet keeping away from any dangerous points, where enemies might be in hiding, bent on getting a shot at the white voyagers.
Sandy did more or less fishing as they went, and had some success, though he found it better to delay his best efforts until they were tied up for the night. As for Bob, he noticed that there were still flocks of wild fowl on the river at various points, and, longing to bag a few, he awaited his time, when a shot was apt to count, and then showed what a good marksman he was.
Altogether they were doing splendidly, and had little cause for complaint when night closed in around them. They tied up this time, for there had been no sign of Indians the livelong day, and, as Pat was in no condition to scout around, one of the men volunteered to take his place. When he came in later, he declared that, so far as he could discover, there was not an enemy within ten miles of them.
That night passed without any alarm, for which all of them felt very thankful, since they had lost considerable sleep the night before; and it seemed like old times to be able to repose in comfort, only arousing to take a turn at sentry duty, according to the routine arranged.