IN WHICH HARRY FIGHTS A HARD BATTLE, AND IS DEFEATED

The sun was high in the heavens when the tired boatmen awoke.
Unaccustomed as they were to fatigue and late hours, they had been
completely overcome by the exertion and exposure of the previous
night. Harry was the first to recover his lost senses; and when he
opened his eyes, everything looked odd and strange to him. It was not
the rough, but neat and comfortable little room in the poorhouse which
greeted his dawning consciousness; it was the old forest and the
dashing river. He did not feel quite at home; the affair had been
divested of its air of romance, and he felt more like a runaway boy
than the hero of a fairy tale.

"Hallo, Ben!" shouted he, to his sleeping companion.

Ben growled once, and then rolled over, as if angry at being
disturbed.

"Ben! We shall be caught if you don't wake up. There, the clock is
striking eight!" and to give Ben a better idea of where he was, he
administered a smart kick in the region of the ribs.

"What are you about?" snarled Ben, springing to his feet with clinched
fists.

"Time we were moving. Don't you see how high the sun is? The clock has
just struck eight."

"No matter for that. We are just as safe here as anywhere else. You
kick me again, and see where you will be!"

"Come, come, Ben; don't get mad."

"Don't kick me, then."

"What are you going to do now?"

"That's my business. You do what I tell you, that's all you have to do
with it," replied Ben, imperiously, as he walked to the bank of the
river to survey the difficulties of the navigation.

"_Is_ it?" asked Harry, not particularly pleased with this
interpretation of their relations.

"You better believe it is."

"I don't believe anything of the kind. I ain't your nigger, anyhow!"
added Harry, with spirit.

"I'll bet you are."

"I'll bet I ain't."

"What are you going to do about it?"

"I'll let you know what I am going to do."

"If you don't mind what I tell you, I'll wallop you on the spot."

"No, you won't"; and Harry turned on his heel, and leisurely walked
off towards the thickest of the forest.

"Where are you going?"

"Off."

"Off where?"

"Do you think I'm going to stay with you, to be treated like a dog!"
replied Harry, as he continued his retreat.

Ben started after him, but Harry picked up a stick of wood and stood
on the defensive.

"Now, if you don't come back, I'll break your head!" said Ben.

"Look out that your