at
Dick's garments were soon dry. A few minutes served to change the locks
of his rifle, draw the wet charges, dry out the barrels, and re-load.
Then, throwing it across his shoulder, he entered the wood, and walked
lightly away. And well he might, poor fellow, for at that moment he
felt light enough in person if not in heart. His worldly goods were not
such as to oppress him, but the little note had turned his thoughts
towards home, and he felt comforted.

Traversing the belt of woodland that marked the course of the river,
Dick soon emerged on the wide prairie beyond, and here he paused in some
uncertainty as to how he should proceed.

He was too good a backwoodsman, albeit so young, to feel perplexed as to
the points of the compass. He knew pretty well what hour it was, so
that the sun showed him the general bearings of the country, and he knew
that when night came he could correct his course by the pole star.
Dick's knowledge of astronomy was limited; he knew only one star by
name, but that one was an inestimable treasure of knowledge. His
perplexity was owing to his uncertainty as to the direction in which his
companions and their pursuers had gone, for he had made up his mind to
follow their trail if possible, and render all the succour his single
arm might afford. To desert them, and make for the settlement, he held,
would be a faithless and cowardly act.

While they were together Joe Blunt had often talked to him about the
route he meant to pursue to the Rocky Mountains, so that, if they had
escaped the Indians, he thought there might be some chance of finding
them at last. But, to set against this, there was the probability that
they had been taken and carried away in a totally different direction,
or they might have taken to the river, as he had done, and gone further
down without his observing them. Then, again, if they had escaped, they
would be sure to return and search the country round for him, so that if
he left the spot he might miss them.

"Oh, for my dear pup Crusoe!" he exclaimed aloud in this dilemma; but
the faithful ear was shut now, and the deep silence that followed his
cry was so oppressive that the young hunter sprang forward at a run over
the plain, as if to fly from solitude. He soon became so absorbed,
however, in his efforts to find the trail of his companions, that he
forgot all other considerations, and ran straight forward for hours
together, with his eyes eagerly fixed on