at flatboat is coming up the river; it's right off
shore; it'll be among us in a few minutes; we had better take to the
woods."

And, incredible as it may seem, the intrepid scout would have led the
absurd stampede, had not his elder and cooler friend laid his hand on
his arm.

"Simon, you ain't yourself; don't forget the varmints are all around
us."

"Dan'l," returned Kenton, sharply, "did you ever see a ghost?"

"I have not."

"Wal, if you want to see one, walk down to the edge of the river and
there it is! As for me, I want to git away afore it comes any closer;
but I forgot 'bout the varmints; I'll wait till you folks have a look at
it, and then we'll all run."

Evidently, the ranger was rallying from his panic.

Among the group that gathered around him were several who were quick to
recover from their own fright, and to see that the true course was to
investigate the cause of the latter's state of mind.

"Wait here till I take a look for myself," said George Ashbridge,
touching the elbow of his father; "there's something in this that I
don't understand; I will be gone but a few minutes; it's the strangest
condition of affairs I ever knew."

He whisked off in the obscurity and quickly reached the river side.

Meanwhile, Missionary Finley gave proof of his sagacity. Having decided
to use the flatboat and its sail as a possible weapon, he had risen to
his feet, and with hands grasping the bow oar was figuring as to how he
could discover the proper point at which to work the boat to land.

He had made up his mind to emit a signal which would be recognized
either by Boone or Kenton, if it reached their ears, when across the
brief, intervening space he heard the threshing and the terrified
exclamations of his old friend.

"Here we are, Jethro! This is the place! Now, work with a will!"

Both bent their strong arms to the task, and the water was churned at
each end of the craft by the broad blades that swept deep and powerful
like the arms of a propeller. The bulky boat responded and began
approaching the bank, no more than a couple of rods distant.

In this hurly-burly of affright and excitement, the missionary
compressed his lips to keep back the tugging smile. He had caught the
first words uttered by Kenton, identified his voice, and understood the
cause of his alarm.

"If it please Heaven to deliver us all from peril," was the thought of
Finley, "I shall not forget this affair, and I will make sure