e fought,
and in the end I chased him up a tree, where he secured a long branch
and poked me every time I tried to get at him.

And the idea had gone glimmering. I did not know, and he had forgotten.
But the next morning it awoke in him again. Perhaps it was the homing
instinct in him asserting itself that made the idea persist. At any
rate it was there, and clearer than before. He led me down to the water,
where a log had grounded in an eddy. I thought he was minded to play, as
we had played in the mouth of the slough. Nor did I change my mind as I
watched him tow up a second log from farther down the shore.

It was not until we were on the logs, side by side and holding them
together, and had paddled out into the current, that I learned his
intention. He paused to point at the far shore, and resumed his
paddling, at the same time uttering loud and encouraging cries. I
understood, and we paddled energetically. The swift current caught us,
flung us toward the south shore, but before we could make a landing
flung us back toward the north shore.

Here arose dissension. Seeing the north shore so near, I began to paddle
for it. Lop-Ear tried to paddle for the south shore. The logs swung
around in circles, and we got nowhere, and all the time the forest was
flashing past as we drifted down the stream. We could not fight. We knew
better than to let go the grips of hands and feet that held the logs
together. But we chattered and abused each other with our tongues until
the current flung us toward the south bank again. That was now the
nearest goal, and together and amicably we paddled for it. We landed in
an eddy, and climbed directly into the trees to reconnoitre.

CHAPTER XIII

It was not until the night of our first day on the south bank of the
river that we discovered the Fire People. What must have been a band of
wandering hunters went into camp not far from the tree in which Lop-Ear
and I had elected to roost for the night. The voices of the Fire
People at first alarmed us, but later, when darkness had come, we were
attracted by the fire. We crept cautiously and silently from tree to
tree till we got a good view of the scene.

In an open space among the trees, near to the river, the fire was
burning. About it were half a dozen Fire-Men. Lop-Ear clutched me
suddenly, and I could feel him tremble. I looked more closely, and saw
the wizened little old hunter who had shot Broken-Tooth out of the tree
years bef