"Don't you believe it," remarked Gusty Bellows; "You'd see me making for
the axe in a _big_ hurry, I believe in an axe. It makes one of the
greatest weapons for defence you ever saw. I've practiced swinging it
around, and I know just how to strike."

"Well, we'll remember that; won't we, fellows?" remarked Jud, with a
laugh. "Plenty of axe exercise Gusty needs, to keep him in trim for
bears; and I can see now how our firewood is going to be attended to."

They kept pushing on all the while; and there was never a time that the
lookout did not have to keep his eyes on the alert, because of the traps
and snares that lay in wait for the voyagers up the rough Radway.

"Great river, I don't think!" Joe Clausin ventured to remark, after they
had done considerable dodging, to avoid a mass of rocks that blocked the
way in a direct line.

"Still, you'll notice that there's always a passage around," said Paul.
"It's that way with nearly everything. Lots of times we don't see the
opening till we get right on it, and then all of a sudden, there's the
path out."

"I guess you're right, Paul," observed Joe. "Things do happen to a fellow
sometimes, in a funny way, and just when he feels like giving up, he sees
the light. You remember a lot of trouble I had once, and how it turned
out splendidly? And so I learned my lesson, I sure did. I look at things
different now. It showed me how silly it is to worry over things that you
can't help."