d with plenty of willow withes we
ought to hold enough timbers together."

The raft was made in about a day. It was a crude structure, but as it
was intended to have a cruising radius of only a few hundred yards,
pushing its way through strong vegetation, to which the bold navigators
could cling, it sufficed, proving to be very useful in visiting the
snares and decoys they set for the wild ducks and wild geese. The swamp,
in truth, now fairly swarmed with feathered game, and, had they cared to
expend their ammunition, they could have killed enough for twenty men,
but they preferred to save powder and lead, and rely upon the traps, and
fish which were abundant.

The skies were very clear now and they watched them for threads of
Indian smoke which could be seen far, many miles in such a thin
atmosphere, but the bright heavens were never defiled by any such sign.
It was the opinion of Henry that the main Indian band, under Red Eagle,
had gone northward in the search, but it would be folly to leave the
swamp now, since other detachments had certainly been left to the
southward. The ring might be looser and much larger, but it was sure to
be still there, and it was not hard for such as they, trained in
patience and enjoying a rare peace, to wait. Thus the days passed
without event, and the five felt their muscles growing bigger and
stronger for the great tasks bound to come. But a curious feeling that
war and danger were half a world away grew upon them. They were in love
for a time with peace and all its ways. They were reluctant even to
shoot any of the larger wild animals that wandered through the swamp,
and they felt actual pain when they slew the wild ducks and wild geese
caught in their snares.

"I'm bein' gentled fast," said Shif'less Sol. "Ef this keeps on fur a
month or so I won't hev the heart to shoot at any Injun who may come
ag'inst me. I'll jest say: 'Here, Mr. Warrior, hop up an' take my skelp.
It's a good skelp, a fine head o' hair an' I wuz proud o' it. I would
like to hev kep' it, but seein' that you want it bad, snatch it off,
hang it in your wigwam, tell the neighbors that thar is the skelp o'
Solomon Hyde, an' I'll git along the best I kin without it.'"

"You may feel that way now, Sol," said Long Jim, "but you jest wait till
the Injun comes at you fur your skelp. Then you'll change your mind
quicker'n lightnin', an' you'll reach fur your gun, an' blow his head
off."

"Reckon you're right, Jim," sa