ahead of the canoe. Then he put his rifle on the ground, dropped lightly
into the stream, and swam with swift sure strokes for the derelict.

As the warrior approached he saw that his opinion of the canoe was more
than justified. It had been made with uncommon skill and he admired its
strong, graceful lines. It was not often that such a valuable prize came
to a man and asked to be taken. He reached it and put one hand upon the
side. Then a heavy fist stretched entirely over the canoe and struck him
such a mighty blow upon the jaw that he sank senseless, and when he
revived two minutes later on a low bank where the current had cast him,
he did not know what had happened to him.

Meanwhile the uncaptured canoe sailed on in lonely majesty down the
stream.

"That was a shrewd blow of yours, Dave," said Robert. "You struck fairly
upon his jaw bone."

"It's not often that I fight an Indian with my fists, and the chance
having come I made the most of it," said the hunter. "He may have been a
sentinel set to watch for just such an attempt as we are making, but
it's likely they thought if we made a dash for it we'd be in the canoe."

"It was great wisdom for us to swim," said Tayoga. "Another sentinel
seeing the canoe may also think it was washed away somewhere and is
merely floating on the waters. I can see a heap of underbrush that has
gathered against a projecting point, and the current would naturally
bring the canoe into it. Suppose we let it rest there until it seems to
work free by the action of the water, and then go on down the river."