"I'm thinking ye're right, and I'm ready to do your bidding whenever you are ready. I came near crossing over that tree a good while ago, and I'm prepared to do it now if you say so." "I'm not satisfied that that is the best course." "Why not?" "From what you have told me and what I have seen, the Shawanoes seem to be using that to-night as a bridge. I don't know how many have come and gone over it to-day. Suppose that a party of them made up their minds to cross at the same time we do?" "And that's what some of 'em did when I was about to try it; if me gun hadn't wobbled behind me shoulder we'd have met on the log." "The trees grow to the bank at each end of the log, so that if these two hadn't slanted across that little, narrow space off there to the left, we wouldn't have seen them until they stepped upon the foot-bridge. What I mean to say, Larry, is this: we have had such good fortune that we must not tempt Providence further by trying to cross here." "How shall we manage it?" "Go farther up the stream till we're well away from this place, where the Indians seem to be so plentiful." "And maybe there isn't such a spot." "There must be; there are not enough of the Shawanoes to be everywhere." "Not that, but a place where we can cross; ye must bear in mind that it's not me that can jump like yersilf." "There must be some spot where the banks come close together. A stream generally grows narrower the nearer you approach the source." "True, if it runs between the rocks all the way, as it does above the falls." There was logic in these words, and his friend could not deny it. "I agree with you, Larry; but if the rocks disappear and the torrent widens, then it must be so slow that we can either swim or wade it. There isn't any chance of our reaching the block-house except by the trail, and that is on the other side." "But what about the two that wint across a little while ago?" "We must look out for them, and for the others, too; we are not through with them yet." "I agree with ye now." CHAPTER XVI. THE DETOUR. There could be no denying that extraordinary fortune had attended the boys, but they were too prudent to count on a continuance of what might be called the run of good luck, except by the utmost circumspection on their part.