nees. The wilderness has become impassable."

Robert laughed.

"I see no way out of it for him," said Wilton.

"But I do."

"Then what, in Heaven's name, is it?"

"I not only see the way for Tayoga, but I shut my eyes once more and I
see him using it. He has put away his snow shoes, and, going to the
thick bushes at the edge of a creek, he has taken out his hidden
canoe. He has been in it some time, and with mighty sweeps of the
paddle, that he knows so well how to use, it flies like a wild duck
over the water. Now he passes from the creek into a river flowing
eastward, and swollen by the floods to a vast width. The rain has
poured upon him, but he does not mind it. The powerful exercise with
the paddles dries his body, and sends the pleasant warmth through
every vein. His feet and ankles rest, after his long flight on the
snow shoes, and his heart swells with pleasure, because it is one of
the easiest parts of his journey. His rifle is lying by his side, and
he could seize it in a moment should an enemy appear, but the forest
on either side of the stream is deserted, and he speeds on unhindered.
There may be better canoemen in the world than Tayoga, but I doubt
it."

"Come, come, Lennox! You go too far! I can admit the possibility of
the snow shoes and their appearance at the very moment they're needed,
but the evocation of a river and a canoe at the opportune instant puts
too high a strain upon credibility."

"Then don't believe it unless you wish to do so," laughed Robert, "but
as for me I'm not only believing it, but I'm almost at the stage of
knowing it."

The flood was so great that all hunting ceased for the time, and the
men stayed under shelter in the fort, while the fires were kept
burning for the sake of both warmth and cheer. But they were on the
edge of the great Ohio Valley, where changes in temperature are often
rapid and violent. The warm rain ceased, the wind came out of the
southwest cold and then colder. The logs of the buildings popped with
the contracting cold all through the following night and the next dawn
came bright, clear and still, but far below zero. The ice was thick
on the creek, and every new pool and lake was covered. The trees and
bushes that had been dripping the day before were sheathed in silver
mail. Breath curled away like smoke from the lips.

"If Tayoga stayed in his canoe," said Wilton, "he's frozen solidly in
the middle of the river, and he won't be able to move it