lley, that he had become almost as expert in the water as a
south-sea islander; so that when he found himself whirling down the
rapid river, as already described, he was more impressed with a feeling
of gratitude to God for his escape from the Indians, than anxiety about
getting ashore.

He was not altogether blind, or indifferent, to the danger into which he
might be hurled if the channel of the river should be found lower down
to be broken with rocks, or should a waterfall unexpectedly appear.
After floating down a sufficient distance to render pursuit out of the
question, he struck in to the bank opposite to that from which he had
plunged, and, clambering up to the green sward above, stripped off the
greater part of his clothing and hung it on the branches of a bush to
dry. Then he sat down on the trunk of a fallen tree to consider what
course he had best pursue in his present circumstances.

These circumstances were by no means calculated to inspire him with hope
or comfort. He was in the midst of an unknown wilderness, hundreds of
miles from any white man's settlement; surrounded by savages; without
food or blanket; his companions gone, he knew not whither; perhaps taken
and killed by the Indians; his horse dead, and his dog, the most trusty
and loving of all his friends, lost to him, probably, for ever! A more
veteran heart might have quailed in the midst of such accumulated evils,
but Dick Varley possessed a strong, young, and buoyant constitution,
which, united with a hopefulness of disposition that almost nothing
could overcome, enabled him very quickly to cast aside the gloomy view
of his case and turn to its brighter aspects.

He still grasped his good rifle, that was some comfort, and as his eye
fell upon it, he turned with anxiety to examine into the condition of
his powder-horn and the few things that he had been fortunate enough to
carry away with him about his person.

The horn in which western hunters carry their powder is usually that of
an ox. It is closed up at the large end with a piece of hard wood
fitted tightly into it, and the small end is closed with a wooden peg or
stopper. It is, therefore, completely water-tight, and may be for hours
immersed without the powder getting wet unless the stopper should chance
to be knocked out. Dick found, to his great satisfaction, that the
stopper was fast, and the powder perfectly dry. Moreover, he had by
good fortune filled it full two days before