He felt a great relief after his extreme danger and long exertions.
It was both physical and mental, and sitting there alone in a sunken
wilderness he was nevertheless happy. Believing that the mosquitoes
would not come back, he wrapped the blanket about his whole body by and
by, and pulled his cap down over his eyes.

Dick had no plans for the night. He did not know whether he intended to
remain there long or not, but nature settled doubts for him. His head
drooped, and soon he slept as easily and peacefully as if he had been at
home at Pendleton in his own bed.

Then the wilderness blotted him out for the time. The little wild
animals scurried through the grass or ran up trees. In the far distance
an owl hooted solemnly at nothing, and he slept the mighty sleep of
exhaustion.




CHAPTER V

HUNTED


Dick slept the whole night through, which was a very good thing for him,
because he needed it, and because he could have made no progress in the
thick darkness through the marshy wilderness. No human beings saw him,
but the wild animals took more than one look. Not all were little.
One big clumsy brute, wagging his head in a curious, comic way, shuffled
up from the edge of the swamp, sniffed the strange human odor, and,