clear for him to make out an indistinct outline
of the rock on which the raft was hung, and as the rain was still
falling, he quickly regained the shelter of the "shanty," there to
consider the situation. It did not take him long to make up his mind
that this was a case in which assistance was absolutely necessary, and
that he must either wait for it to come to him or go in search of it.
First of all, though, he must have something to eat. He had no need to
look at his watch to discover that it was breakfast-time. The
condition of his appetite told him that.

Now Winn had never learned to cook. He had regarded that as an
accomplishment that was well enough for girls to acquire, but one quite
beneath the notice of a man. Besides, cooking was easy enough, and any
one could do it who had to. It was only necessary to put things into a
pot and let them boil, or into an oven to bake. Of course they must be
watched and taken from the stove when done, but that was about all
there was to cooking. There was a sack of corn-meal in the "shanty,"
and a jug of maple syrup. A dish of hot mush would be the very thing.
Then there was coffee already ground; of course he would have a cup of
coffee. So the boy made a roaring fire, found the coffee-pot, set it
on the stove, and filled a large saucepan with corn-meal.

"There may be a little too much in there," he thought; "but I can save
what I can't eat now for lunch, and then fry it, as mother does."

Having got thus far in his preparations, he took a bucket and went
outside for some water from the river. Here he remained for a few
minutes to gaze at a distant up-bound steamboat, and wondered why he
had not noticed her when she passed the raft. Although the river
seemed somewhat narrower than he thought it should be, he had no idea
but that he was still in its main channel, and that the land on his
left was the Wisconsin shore.

Still wondering how he could have missed seeing, or at least hearing,
the steamboat, the boy reentered the "shanty." Thinking of steamboats
rather than of cooking, he began to pour water into the saucepan of
meal, which at once began to run over. Thus recalled to his duties, he
removed half of the wet meal to another pan, filled it with water, and
set both pans on the stove. Then he poured a stream of cold water into
the coffee-pot, which by this time was almost red-hot. The effect was
as distressing as it was unexpected. A cloud of scalding st