tempted more than once to leap into the
water and swim or wade ashore, but he restrained himself. On one of
these occasions, just as a heavy cloud approached the moon, and while
his raft was a dozen yards or so from shore, he was alarmed at sight of
something approaching him through the water. What it was he could not
conjecture, as it was low down, and very indistinct on account of the
gathering gloom.

As the cloud touched the moon and obscured the light, this suspicious
object disappeared, and he awaited with no little alarm the outcome of
the mystery. He was sitting motionless, looking and listening, when the
end of the tree was suddenly elevated a full foot, while the other
correspondingly descended.

With a gasp of terror, Ned clutched the limb near him and held on, not
knowing whither he was about to be flung. A muttering growl at the same
instant explained what it all meant, and he hastily retreated still
further upon the tree, expecting every moment to feel the claws of the
wild animal fastened upon him.

"It seems to me that these beasts are after me more than the Indians,"
was his thought, as he drew out his revolver, and awaited the necessity
of using it.

Further than placing his paws upon one end of the trunk, and giving out
a threatening growl, the animal did nothing for a few minutes, while the
boy, fully sensible of the value of his ammunition, was equally lacking
in offensive proceedings. Thus matters stood, while the great heavy
cloud floated slowly by the moon, and the head of the unwelcome stranger
gradually came to view.

It was some wild beast, beyond question, but it wasn't a bear. Its eyes,
shining with a phosphorescent glow, and the cavernous growling that
issued from the red jaws, made it seem the most frightful kind of a
monster. Hoping that it was not particularly hungry, Ned tried the scare
game again, flinging up his arms and shouting, and making noises
horrible enough to frighten any one to whom they remained unexplained.
In this case it succeeded admirably. The creature, whatever it was, must
have concluded that it was something besides a boy with which it had
taken passage, and, after indulging in one prolonged stare, dropped back
into the water and paddled straight for shore.

[Illustration: NED TRIED THE SCARE GAME AGAIN, FLINGING UP HIS ARMS AND
SHOUTING]

"I don't think Lone Wolf can follow me all along this route," concluded
the boy, as he resumed his paddling toward shor