pted to go round by land,
we should inevitably have been overtaken by the Indians.

CHAPTER EIGHT.

CROSSING THE LAKE--SAFELY LANDED--LOST IN THE FOREST--A SPECTRE--THE
MANTIS TRIBE--CHASING A WOUNDED DEER--IN A DILEMMA--WOLVES--UP A TREE--A
WEARY NIGHT--THE SIEGE RAISED--SEARCH AFTER MY COMPANIONS--SUFFERINGS
FROM THIRST--WATER DISCOVERED--OVERCOME BY FATIGUE--FOUND BY CAESAR--
MEETING WITH TIM FLANAGAN--ONE WAY TO MAKE A BLAZE--SIGNALS FOR OUR
FRIENDS--THE DESERTED HUT--PROOFS OF AN INDIAN TRAGEDY--PLANS FOR
CONTINUING OUR JOURNEY.

We had been paddling on for some time, not making more than two miles an
hour. At length the eastern shore of the lake began to grow nearer. It
was low, with no trees of any size growing on its bank. We feared that
on landing we should have to wade through a swamp infested by snakes,
and probably by alligators, before we could reach dry ground. We could
see the northern shore, which appeared to be of the same character; and
this made us hope that the Indians would not have attempted to go round
and intercept us. The western shore was still discernible, but too far
off to enable us to see whether the Indians were still there.

"I wonder where those fellows were going?" observed Carlos; "they
evidently did not belong to this part of the country, or they would have
found us out before."

"Me tink dey go norf on war-trail to join de great chief Oceola,"
observed Jup. "Dey say 'fore long de red men kill all de Palefaces in
de country, an' agin have it for demselves."

"Not very likely they will make such a mad attempt," observed Carlos
with a laugh. "The Palefaces would clear them off the face of the earth
were they to play a trick of that sort."

Jup shrugged his shoulders. "Me only tell massa what oders say," he
answered.

At last, beginning to grow hungry, we agreed to stop paddling and take
some food, while Jup steered. The meat we had cooked was already rather
high. We had only some small flour-cakes, and some baked roots to eat
with it. Hunger, however, prevented us from being fastidious, and we
had plenty of water alongside to wash it down.

As I was dipping my tin mug into the lake, a huge snout suddenly rose,
and very nearly caught my hand, as well as the mug. Tim gave the
monster a whack with his paddle, which made it quickly sink again. It
was a lesson to us to be careful how we put our hands into the water.
The wind now dropped, and the sun beat down with int