the world began?"

CHAPTER XVII

BEGINNING THE BOAT

After we had got thoroughly rested, Jim from being rescued and Tom and I
from doing the rescuing act, we went back to our camp.

"It's rather nice," remarked Jim, "to camp under cottonwoods after
having nothing but pines over us, or the sky."

"It does seem sort of civilized," said Tom. "This is one of the nicest
places we have struck. Just the kind for a picnic."

The broad-leaved trees were over our heads, and there was an open space
amongst them for our camp. The trees were old, and some with bent trunks
on which we could sit and swing our feet. After the wide and lonely
extent of plains that we had been journeying over, our camp among the
trees seemed a cosy shelter.

But as evening came on our enthusiasm received a severe jolt, for swarms
of mosquitoes came in from the levels between the two streams. We began
to slap around our ears in frantic efforts at self-protection.

"Does this remind you of anything?" asked Tom.

"You bet it does," said Jim. "It was way back in Kansas where they came
near eating us alive. I know when I tried to take aim at some ducks they
settled so thick on the gun that I could not see the sight."

"Yes, I recollect building a smudge back of black Carl and setting his
tail afire, too," I put in.

"We won't stay any longer around here than we have to," said Jim.

"How long do you suppose before we will be ready to start down the
river?" I asked.

"We will get to work to-morrow," said Jim, "and we won't waste any time.
It would not surprise me if we were ready to launch out after two days."

The reader will wonder what we will do now that the river is reached. Of
course we had no boats with us and there was no place within five
hundred miles where we could have them made. Nor did we have the
materials wherewith to construct a boat.

As to our ponies we had no other course than to leave them at this
point. We could not take them with us because we did not expect to
build a Noah's ark. If we had been in striking distance of a settlement,
Jim would have taken the horses and sold them.

However, we would not be out anything, as the ponies had cost us
nothing, as we had captured them from the Indians, but we regretted
having to leave our faithful companions who had once saved our lives
when we were in desperate straits.

Of course we had not come so far without some definite plan of action
when we struck the river.