Читать книгу The Trail of Black Hawk онлайн

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The motion of the canoe was so soothing and all about them everything seemed so quiet and peaceful that the two brothers almost forgot the danger they were in, and had nearly fallen asleep again when the grating of the bow on a sandy beach quickly aroused them.

“Out here,” whispered Deerfoot.

A moment later the canoe had been hauled ashore and hidden, and without further delay Joseph and Robert followed their Indian guide as he struck out through the woods.

On the river the night had seemed dark, but in the woods it was pitchy black. The great overhanging trees shut out whatever feeble light the stars might give, so that the forest was inky dark. As a consequence progress was very slow. Deerfoot did not even for a moment relax his caution; the three fugitives proceeded one behind the other and so close that they could almost touch one another. Speed was sacrificed to quietness and as a consequence it required the better part of an hour to traverse this strip of woods, though it was only a half-mile wide.