"Of course I don't know where we'll be," Dick observed, calmly; "but if we've got the good sense I think we have, chances are two boys about our size will be perched in the branches of the largest tree on the island, with all their stores about them, waiting for the waters to go down again." "Oh! and I never thought of that, either!" exclaimed Roger, apparently somewhat relieved in his mind, as he noted that one of the trees was of some size. "The worst thing about that plan," continued Dick, "is that we've got to lose our horses; and I hate to think of that more than I can tell you." "Will they be drowned, do you think?" "Well, horses can swim, you know; and they might get ashore if we turned them loose in good time. But even then, we'd never be able to track them; and our job of overtaking the expedition would be made all the harder. Still, we will not be the ones to give it up, Roger. Nothing could make us do that, could it?" "No, indeed, it could not," replied the other boy, firmly. "But, Dick--" "Yes, what idea has come into your mind now?" asked the other lad, encouragingly. "Why, when you spoke of turning the horses loose, and letting them have a chance of reaching the shore, I thought what a fine thing it would be if we were holding on to the saddles at that time. Why, they'd just tow us to land with them, you see!" "Yes, if they got there, which isn't a sure thing at all," replied Dick. "But we will decide all that later on. Perhaps the river will rise only a little more, and then come to a stand-still. And, in case of the worst, we've always got that tree there. Even if it should be undermined by the flood, and carried away, we might stick in the branches." "And float down the river, you mean," added Roger. "That would save our lives, of course; but think how we'd feel, going away from Captain Lewis mile after mile. Why, this makes me think of what our fathers told us about that flood up along the Ohio, that was the cause of their coming further West."[5] "That's a fact, it does; and they came near being drowned in that same flood, too, didn't they?" said Dick. "But let's begin to get our packages ready, in case we have to climb this tree. It's just as well to be prepared, even if we never have to carry out that plan." "But you really think we will have to, don't you, Dick?" persisted the other. "If the water gets high enough to cover our island, yes," was the reply; "because there's really no other way. But these summer floods come and go quickly. It isn't like the early spring time, when the ground is frozen, and the downpour can find no way to soak into it, so that it all rushes off."