"We have shown how easy it is to keep the Indians off, and we can do it again and again, as long as our powder and ball hold out," he declared, with the sanguine nature of youth, that borrows no trouble when the skies seem clear. "I'm sure Pat O'Mara must have laid more than one of those yelling rascals low, for every time he fired I saw him nod his head and look pleased." All the rest of that day they floated on, undisturbed by any signs of an enemy. Once Sandy discovered a stately stag standing knee deep in the water, surveying the approaching craft as if in wonder, and, eager to land a shot that might give them a bountiful supply of fresh venison, the boy made a hasty jump for his gun. But perhaps it was this sudden movement on the part of the impetuous Sandy that alarmed the deer, for, whirling like a flash, it vanished amidst the brush that at this particular spot lined the bank. "Too bad!" said Pat, who had witnessed all this; "but, take me worrd for it, Sandy, av yees had been more deliberate like in your movements, chances are ye might 'a' had a shot. 'Tis the same ould story av too much haste, me bye. Next toime r'ach out yer hand, slow like, and pick up the gun widout takin' yer eyes off the game." Sandy thought he might do even better, and keep his musket in his grasp; but, though he sat there faithfully for nearly two hours, the chance did not come again. It seldom does, once we allow it to slip past. Of course, on that evening they decided that it was too risky to think of going ashore to make their fire; and so supper was prepared on board, after they had anchored. So anxious were they to get as far as possible below the scene of their encounter with the treacherous renegade and his red allies, that they would have continued the voyage by moonlight, only that it had clouded up with the coming of late afternoon, and there was every prospect of a bad night ahead. The weather had been very fair ever since the spring rains ceased; but, warmer weather having now arrived, Mr. Armstrong warned them that a storm was liable to swoop down upon them at any time, and they must be prepared for it. So, on this night they tried the best they could to have the anchor well laid, for, if ever the wind came sweeping down the river, there was a chance that the cabin of the flatboat would offer such a resistance that, sooner or later, they must be swept away, to find themselves at the mercy of the storm. And that was a possibility none of them fancied very much. CHAPTER XV A HUNT FOR FRESH MEAT "I FEEL just wild for fresh meat, and I mean to ask father if we can take a little hunt this very afternoon," said Sandy, two days later, while the flatboat was speeding quite merrily down the current.