e south, Nat," said Uncle Dick. "A long way
to carry him. I understand," he said, turning to the Indian again,
shouldering his gun, bending down, and making believe to walk; but his
patient shook his head violently, took hold of his piece of wood, and
went through the motion of paddling.

"Hah!" I cried, imitating him. "He means we should have to go in a
canoe, uncle."

"That's it," he cried, and he pointed down at the river; but the man
shook his head again, and pointed right across into the distance.

"Nat," said my uncle, "we shall do it yet. It must be on that river we
passed before we turned up this. We shall have to get him down to the
boat."

I wish I could write--_No sooner said than done_; but it was not so; for
our future guide was not yet fit to start on such a journey. He was
getting better fast, but not fast enough, and in spite of my assertions,
I was not recovered from a very bad wound. In short, it seemed that the
only thing to do, as we appeared to have nothing more to fear from
Indians with two such guards in camp, was to send down to the boat for
more of the stores, that is, enough for another fortnight's stay, when
the difficulty was solved by Cross one morning.

"I've been turning it over in my mind, Master Nat, about carrying that
chap down to the boat, but the doctor says it would open his wound again
and throw him back, so that won't do."

"No; certainly not," I said.

"Then I got a notion that I could knock up a sort of chair he could sit
in, and me and Pete and Mrs Mapah could carry it strapped on our backs
in turn."

"Nonsense! That little woman could not carry her husband."

"What, sir!" cried Cross laughing. "Don't you make a mistake, sir;
she's as strong as a pony. But the doctor says it would shake him too
much, so what do you say to this? S'pose I build a raft, and we go back
the same as we come?"

"Through the dark cavern?"

"I don't know no laws again' our burning a good light, sir."

"But how are you going to get it down the falls?"

"In bits, sir," he said, laughing. "I should build it down yonder on
the side at the bottom of the falls. Then we could swing old Dusky down
with the rope, and all we should want would be a couple of bamboo poles,
and there we are."

The notion seemed wild at first, but Cross soon showed Uncle Dick and me
that it was quite possible; and in the course of the next fortnight he
proved it by means of his axe, making the raft out