The Eyes of the Woods: A Story of the Ancient WildernessAltsheler, Joseph A. (Joseph Alexander)
General
The Eyes of the Woods: A Story of the Ancient Wilderness
Altsheler, Joseph A. (Joseph Alexander)
Frontier and pioneer life -- Fiction
Henry stood up, and once more he felt a great access of wonder and
gratitude. The superior powers were surely protecting him, and were even
watching over him while he slept. He walked back a little and looked at
the tree, on which the gray squirrel had chattered and rattled his
claws. He thought he caught a glimpse of a bushy tail among the boughs,
but he was not sure. In any event, he bore in mind that while great
animals had served him, the little ones, too, had given help as good.
Then he bore the canoe back to the river, put in it all his precious
possessions, and continued his flight by water.
There was a chance that warriors might see him from the banks, since he
had proof of their presence in the woods, but relying upon his skill and
the favors of fortune, he was willing to take the risk. He had an idea,
too, that he would soon come to the lake, and he meant to hide among the
dense thickets and forests, sure to line its low shores.
His surmise was right, as some time before noon the river widened
abruptly, and a half hour later he came out on the border of a vast
lake, stretching blue to the horizon and beyond. A strong wind blowing
over the great expanse of water came sharp and cold, but to Henry,
naturally so strong and warmed by his exertions, it furnished only
exhilaration. He felt that now the great flight and chase had come to an
end. He could not cross this mighty inland sea in his light canoe, and
doubtless the chiefs and the renegades, unable to follow his trail by
water, where he left no trail at all, would give up at last, and hope
for more success another time.
So believing, and confident in his belief, he looked around for a
temporary home, and marked a low island lying out about five miles from
the shore. The five had found good refuge on an island once before, and
he alone might do it again, and lie hidden there, until all danger from
the great hunt had passed.
He acted with his usual boldness and decision, and paddled with a strong
arm toward the island which seemed to be about a mile each way and was a
mass of dense forest. His canoe rocked on the waves, which were running
high before the wind, but he came without mishap to the island, and,
pushing his canoe through thickets of reeds and willows, landed.
Leaving the canoe well hidden, he examined the island and was well
pleased with it, as it seemed to be suited admirably to his purpose. The
forest was unbroken and very dense. Probably human beings never came
there, as the game seemed very tame. Two or three deer looked at him
with mild, inquiring eyes before they moved slowly away, and he saw
where wild turkey roosted in numbers at night.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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