t because she was only a girl. Now
how gladly would he listen to her advice! It was pretty evident that
his self-conceit had received a staggering blow, and that self-reliance
would be thankful for the backing of another's wisdom.

As Winn sat by the table, forlorn and shivering, it suddenly occurred
to him that there was no reason why he should not have a fire. There
was plenty of dry wood. How stupid he had been not to think of it
before! Acting upon this idea, he quickly had a cheerful blaze
snapping and crackling in the little stove, which soon began to diffuse
a welcome warmth throughout the room. By a glance at his watch--a
small silver one that had been his father's when he was a boy--Winn
found the night to be nearly gone. He was greatly comforted by the
thought that in less than two hours daylight would reveal his situation
and give him a chance to do something. Still, the lonely waiting was
very tedious, the boy was weary, and the warmth of the fire made him
sleepy. At first he struggled against the overpowering drowsiness, but
finally he yielded to it, and, with his head sunk on his folded arms,
which rested on the table, was soon buried in a slumber as profound as
that of the earlier night.

At daylight the unguided raft was seen in the "Slant Crossing" by the
crew of an up-bound steamboat, and they wondered at the absence of all
signs of life aboard it. Every now and then the drifting mass of
timber touched on some sand-bar or reef, but the current always swung
it round, so that it slid off and resumed its erratic voyage. At
length, after floating swiftly and truly down a long straight chute,
the _Venture_ was seized by an eddy at its foot, revolved slowly
several times, and then reluctantly dragged into a false channel on the
western side of a long, heavily-timbered island. Half-way down its
length the raft "saddle-bagged," as the river men say, or floated
broadside on, against a submerged rock. It struck fairly amidship, and
there it hung, forming a barrier, around the ends of which the hurrying
waters laughed and gurgled merrily.

With the shock of the striking Winn awoke, straightened himself, and
rubbed his eyes, wondering vaguely where he was and what had happened.

CHAPTER VI.

MR. GILDER AND HIS RUDE RECEPTION.

After emerging from the "shanty," it did not take the solitary occupant
of the raft long to discover the nature of his new predicament. The
water was sufficiently