Page:Dick Sands the Boy Captain.djvu/478

 450 DICK SAN'DS, THE BOV CAPTAIN. must necesaarily be long, and by no means frce from danger, and the daily supply of provisions was not easy to procure. If (isliing failcd, Dick had the one gun whidi Hercules had carried away with him, from the ant-hiM, and as he was by no mcans a bad shot, hc hoped to find plenty of game, eithcr along the banks or by firing through a loop- hole in the thatch. The rate of the current, as far as he could tell, was about two miles an hour, enough to carry them about fifty miles a day ; it was a spced, however, that made it nccessary for them to kecp a sharp look-out for any rocks or submcrged tmnks r:>f trees, as wcll as to bc on their guard against rapids and cataracts. Dick's strength and spirits ail revîved at the delight of havîng Mrs. Wcidon and Jack restored to him, and he assumed his post at thcbowof the canoc, direct ing Hercules how to use the seuil at the stern, A litter of soft grass was made for Mrs. Weldon, who spent most of her time lying thoughtfully in the shade. Cousin Benedict was very taci- turn ; he had not recovercd the loss of the manticora, and frowned ever and again at Hercules, as if he had not yet forgiven him for stopping him in the chase. Jack, who had been told that he must not be noisy, amused himself by playing with Dingo. The first two days passed without any spécial incident. The stock of provisions was quîte enough for that time, so that there was no need to disembark, and Dick merely lay to for a few hours in the night to take a little necessary repose. The stream nowhere exceeded 1 50 feet in breadth. The floating islands moved at the same pace as the canoë, and except from some unforesecn circumstance, there could be no appréhension ofa collision. The banks werc destitute of human inhabitants, but were rîchly clothed with wild plants, of which the blossoms were of the most gorgcous colourâ; the asclepix, the gladiolus, the clematis, lities, aloes, umbelliferœ, arborescent ferns and fragrant shrubs, combining on either hand to make a border of surpassing beauty. Hère and there the forest extended to the very