still wagging his comic head, came rather close to the sleeping boy.
Then the black bear decided to be afraid, and lumbered back into the
bushes.

An owl perched on a bough almost over Dick's head, but this was game far
too large for Mr. Owl's beak and talons, and he soon flew away in search
of something nearer his size. A raccoon on a bough stared with glowing
eyes and then slid out of sight.

Man, although he had just come, became king of this swamp, king for the
night. The prowling beasts and birds of prey, after their first look,
gave Dick all the berth he needed, and he did not awake until a bright
sun was well above the edge of the earth. Then he rose, shook himself,
much like an animal coming from its lair, and bathed his face in a little
stream which ran down the hill into the swamp. It was swollen and
painful from the mosquito bites, but he resolved not to think of them,
and ate breakfast from the saddlebags, after which he studied his map a
little.

Baggage and rifle on shoulder, he pursued a course south by east.
There was a strong breeze which gave him a rest from the dreaded insects,
and he pushed on with vigorous footsteps. The country remained
thoroughly wild, and he soon had proof of it. Another deer, this time
obviously started up by himself, sprang from the canebrake and darted
away in the woods. He noted tracks of bear and resolved some day when
the war was over to come there hunting.

His course led him again from firm ground into a region of marshes and
lagoons, which he crossed with difficulty, arriving about an hour before
noon at a considerable river, one that would require swimming unless he