Mike, after resting himself and his horse, was to
follow in the morning with the tools and stores, so as to arrive at the
river at as early an hour as Mr. Balfour could complete the journey from
Sevenoaks, with his lighter load and swifter horses.
Jim Fenton, who had lain still for several days, and was full of his
schemes for Mr. Balfour and his proteges in camp, and warm with his
memories of Miss Butterworth, simply gloried in his moonlight tramp. The
accumulated vitality of his days of idleness was quite enough to make
all the fatigues before him light and pleasant. At nine o'clock the next
morning he stood by the side of his boat again. The great stillness of
the woods, responding in vivid color to the first kisses of the frost,
half intoxicated him. No world-wide wanderer, returning after many years
to the home of his childhood, could have felt more exulting gladness
than he, as he shoved his boat from the bank and pushed up the shining
stream in the face of the sun.
Benedict and Harry had not been idle during his absence. A deer had
been shot and dressed; trout had been caught and saved alive; a cave had
been dug for the preservation of vegetables; and when Jim shouted, far
down the stream, to announce his approach, there were three happy
persons on shore, waiting to welcome him--Turk being the third, and
apparently oblivious of the fact that he was not as much a human being
as any of the party.
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