patience, while he righted the canoe.

When at last he was seated again, as I leaned to shove him off, he
whispered in a compensating, kindly manner: "When ye 're goin'
ashore, an' they 's somebody 'n the canoe, don't never try t' tek
it with ye 'less ye tell 'im yer goin' tew."

There was a deep silence over wood and water, but he went away so
stealthily I could not hear the stir of his paddle. I stood
watching as he dimmed off in the darkness, going quickly out of
sight. Then I crept over the rocks and through a thicket,
shivering, for the night had grown chilly. I snagged my dress on a
brier every step, and had to move by inches. After mincing along
half an hour or so, I came where I could feel a bit of clear earth,
and stood there, dancing on my tiptoes, in the dark, to quicken my
blood a little. Presently the damp light of dawn came leaking
through the tree-tops. I heard a rattling stir in the bare limbs
above me. Was it some monster of the woods? Although I have more
courage than most women, it startled me, and I stood still. The
light came clearer; there was a rush toward me that shook the
boughs. I peered upward. It was only a squirrel, now scratching
his ear, as he looked down at me. He braced himself, and seemed to
curse me loudly for a spy, trembling with rage and rushing up and
down the branch above me. Then all the curious, inhospitable folk
of the timber-land came out upon their towers to denounce.

I made my way over the rustling, brittle leaves, and soon found a
trail that led up over high land. I followed it for a matter of
some minutes, and came to the road, taking my left-hand way, as
they told me. There was no traveller in sight. I walked as fast