ed in fast water. Little by little I edged up on
the bar, quite conscious of her very gracious weight, but sure we should
thus reach safety.

"Put me down," she said at length, as she saw the water shoaling. It was
hip deep to me, but waist deep to her; and I felt her shudder as she
caught its chill. Her little hand gripped tight to mine.

By this time the others had also descended from the snag. I saw old
Auberry plunging methodically along, at his side Mrs. McGovern, clasping
the hand of her son. "Come on here, you boy," she said. "What ye skeered
of? Tall as you air, you could wade the whole Missouri without your hair
gettin' wet. Come along!"

"Get up, Auberry," I said to him as he approached, and motioned to the
long, overhanging branches from the driftwood. He swung up, breaking off
the more insecure boughs, and was of the belief that we could get across
in that way. As he reached down, I swung the young woman up to him, and
she clambered on as best she could. Thus, I scarce know how, we all
managed to reach the solid drift, and so presently found ourselves
ashore, on a narrow, sandy beach, hedged on the back by a heavy growth
of willows.

"Now then, you men," ordered Mandy McGovern, "get some wood out and
start a fire, right away. This here girl is shaking the teeth plumb
out'n her head."

Auberry and I had dragged some wood from the edge of the drift and
pulled it into a heap near by, before we realized that neither of us had
matches.

"Humph!" snorted our leader, feeling in her pockets. She drew forth two
flasks, each stoppered with a bit of corncob. The one held sulphur
matches, thus kept quite dry, and this she passed to me. The other she
handed to the young woman.

"Here," said she, "take a drink of that. It'll do you good."

I heard the girl gasp and choke as she obeyed this injunction; and then
Mandy applied the bottle gurglingly to her own lips.

"I've got a gallon of that back there on the boat," said Auberry
ruefully.

"Heap of good it'll do you there," remarked Mandy. "Looks to me like you
all never did travel much. Fer me, I always go heeled. Wherever I gits
throwed, there my rifle, and my matches, and my licker gits throwed
_too_! Now I'll show you how to, light a fire."

Presently we had a roaring blaze started, which added much to the
comfort of all, for the chill of night was over the river, despite the
fact that this was in the springtime. Mandy seated herself comfortably
upon a lo