"
This was a severe denunciation, but it did not deter the lad from
turning directly about and hurrying to the spot where he had landed,
when forced to help Nellie ashore.
A strong breeze was still blowing, so that the craft, whether the bear
was clinging to it or not, would be sure to come to land again. Nick did
not know that the animal had left it, and he was not foolish enough to
invite the beast to assail him.
The logs, relieved from their burden, were floating over the surface,
and the lad caught sight of them but a short distance off, steadily
approaching the shore.
"The raft must have gone under with the coat, vest, and hat," he said,
watching the floating mass, "and I should think my clothes would have
been lost; but there is something on the logs that looks like my coat
and vest. It would be odd if they had kept their place."
Naturally, the whole attention of Nick was absorbed in this matter; and,
when he found that the wind was carrying the raft and its freight toward
another point, he moved along the margin so as to anticipate its
arrival.
As he did so, like the renowned Captain John Smith when pursued by
Powhatan's warriors, he paid no attention to where his feet led him. He
was studying the raft, as best he could through the smoky darkness, and,
knowing the shore as well as he did, he saw no need of looking downward.
All at once his feet struck a large, soft mass, and, before he could
check himself, he pitched headlong over it, as though it were a bale of
cloth in his path.
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