, and he did not wish to leave the vicinity of the enemies until he
saw a little more of them.

It was evident that the Winnebagos were in no hurry. They must have
known that two of the youths were following the trail in advance, for
the heavy shoes of the lads could not fail to leave their imprints in
many places; but, such being the case, the red men might ask in what
manner they could know that a party of Winnebagos were following them,
unless such knowledge came through Deerfoot the Shawanoe, who, wherever
he might be, certainly was not in front of them.

When the Indians came to a stream of water, they did not rush in and
wade or swim to the other side, as they would have done had there been
any call for haste, but like those who had gone before, they stopped
long enough to make a raft on which they could float across. The
American Indian is not as fond of water as he should be, and though the
Winnebagos would have cared little for the chill of the stream, it was
more pleasant for them to pass over dry shod; so they made their several
rafts and poled themselves to the opposite bank.

You would not look for humor under such circumstances, and yet on one of
the three rafts there was so much of it shown that even the grim
Shawanoe smiled.

The structures on which the red men floated were, as a matter of course,
of the frailest nature, intended as they were to last only long enough
to bear them to the other shore. With proper management, all would have
done this, but on one of the rafts holding four of the warriors, there
was an aboriginal wag. A single Indian managed the pole, while the
others squatted carefully in their respective positions and were
expected to keep quiet, so as not to disintegrate the frail structure.

The wag to whom I have referred, while sitting with an innocent
expression on his painted countenance, quietly loosened the two or three
withes, and gave the logs such an impetus that they separated like two
bodies positively charged with electricity, when brought together. The
warrior who handled the pole was standing with legs somewhat apart,
resting on a different log, when they suddenly separated still more, and
he sat down with a splash in the water. Another log revolved backwards,
as did the savage who was sitting on it, while the others were also
plashing in the stream, which was not deep enough to make them swim,
though it came to the neck of the shortest one. The four warriors waded
to s