ilures could daunt him after such a success.

Sam was interested in the White-man's Woodcraft chiefly on Yan's
account, but Blackhawk was evidently impressed with the study itself,
and said:

"Little Beaver, I'll give you one more to do. Can you measure how far
apart those two trees are on that bank, without crossing?"

"Yes," said Yan; "easily." So he cut three poles 6, 8 and 10 feet long
and pegged them together in a triangle (in diagram). "Now," said he,
"_A B C_ is a right angle; it must be, when the legs of the
triangle are 6, 8 and 10; that's a law."

He placed this on the shore, the side _A B_ pointing to the inner
side of the first tree, and the side _B C_ as nearly as possible
parallel with the line between the two trees. Then he put in a stake
at _B_, another at _C_, and continued this line toward _K_. Now he
slid his triangle along this till the side _G F_ pointed to _E_, and
the side _H G_ in line with _C B_. The distance from _D_ to _E_, of
course, is equal to _B G_, which can be measured, and again the tape
line showed Yan to be nearly right.

This White-man's Woodcraft was easy for him, and he volunteered to
teach the other Indians, but they thought it looked "too much like
school." They voted him a _coup_ on finding how well he could do
it. But when Raften heard of it he exclaimed in wonder and admiration,
"My, but that's mightiful!" and would not be satisfied till the
_coup_ was made a _grand coup_.

"Say, Beaver," said Woodpecker sadly, harking back, "if a Dog's front
foot is 3-1/2 inches long and 3 inches wide, what colour is the end of
his tail?"

"White," was the prompt reply; "'cause a Dog with feet that size and
shape is most likely to be a yaller Dog, and a yaller Dog always has
some white hairs in the end of his tail."

"Well, this 'un hadn't, 'cause his tail was cut off in the days of his
youth!"

XXIX

The Long Swamp

The union of the tribes, however, was far from complete. Blackhawk was
inclined to be turbulent. He was heavier than Beaver. He could not
understand how that slighter, younger boy could throw him, and he
wished to try again. Now Yan was growing stronger every day. He was
quick and of very wiry build. In the first battle, which was entirely
fisty, he was worsted; on the try-over, which cost him such an effort,
he had arranged "a rough-and-tumble," as they called it, and had
won chiefly by working his only trick. But now Blackhawk was not
satisfied, and whil