ion.

The next day was quite warm, and the floating ice in the river having
diminished greatly he resumed his journey without so much apprehension
of dangers from the stream, but with a keen watch for the hunting
parties of warriors which he was sure would be out. Now that the great
snow was gone, Miamis and Shawnees, Wyandots and Ottawas would be
roaming the forest to make up for the lack of food caused by their
customary improvidence. Moreover, it was barely possible that on his
return journey he might run into the host led by Yellow Panther and Red
Eagle.

He kept close to the bank in the unbroken shadow of the thickets and
forests, and as he paddled with deliberation, saving his strength, a
warm wind began to blow from the south. The last ice disappeared from
the river and late in the afternoon he saw distant smoke which he was
sure came from an Indian camp, most likely hunters.

It was to the east of the river, and hence he slept that night in the
dense forest to the west, the canoe reposing among the bushes by his
side. The following day was still warmer and seeing several smokes, some
to the east and some to the west, he became convinced that the forest
was now full of warriors. After being shut up a long time in their
villages by the great snow and great cold they would come forth not only
for game, but for the exercise and freedom that the wilderness afforded.
The air of the woods would be very pleasant to them after the close and
smoky lodges.

Now Henry, who had been living, in a measure an idyll of lake and
forest, became Henry the warrior again, keen, watchful, ready to slay
those who would slay him. He never paddled far before he would turn in
to the bank, and examine the woods and thickets carefully to see whether
an enemy lay there in ambush. If he came to a curve he rounded it slowly
and cautiously, and, at last, when he saw remains from some camp farther
up floating in the stream he seriously considered the question of
abandoning the canoe altogether and of taking to the forest. But his
present mode of traveling was so smooth and easy that he did not like
to go on a winter trail through the woods again.

The mouth of a smaller and tributary river about a mile farther on
solved the problem for him. The new stream seemed to lead in the general
direction in which he wished to go, and, as it was deep enough for a
canoe, he turned into it and paddled toward the southwest, going about
twenty miles in a