Therefore, it was the part of his comrades and
himself to use the utmost caution as they passed up the river.
They bugged the western shore, where they were shadowed by banks
and bushes, and now they went slowly, Long Jim and Tom Ross
drawing their oars so carefully through the water that there was
never a plash to tell of their passing. Henry was in the prow of
the boat, bent forward a little, eyes searching the surface of
the river, and ears intent upon any sound that might pass on the
bank. Suddenly he gave a little signal to the rowers and they
let their oars rest.
"Bring the boat in closer to the bank," he whispered. Push it
gently among those bushes where we cannot be seen from above."
Tom and Jim obeyed. The boat slid softly among tall bushes that
shadowed the water, and was hidden completely. Then Henry
stepped out, crept cautiously nearly up the bank, which was here
very low, and lay pressed closely against the earth, but
supported by the exposed root of a tree. He had heard voices,
those of Indians, he believed, and he wished to see. Peering
through a fringe of bushes that lined the bank he saw seven
warriors and one white face sitting under the boughs of a great
oak.
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