He scanned this
closely as he hurried forward, scarcely conscious that he was
searching for some trampled space at the water's edge; but the
verdant wall preserved its unbroken continuity, and twenty
minutes later he came within sight of the Hicks' clearing and the
keel boat, where it rested against the bank.
A little farther on he found the spot where Slosson had launched
the skiff the night before. The keel of his boat had cut deep
into the slippery clay; more than this, the impress of the small
shoe was repeated here, and just beside it was the print of a
child's bare foot.
He no longer doubted that Betty and Hannibal had been taken
across the bayou to the cabin, and he ran back up the path the
distance of a mile and plunged into the woods on his right, his
purpose being to pass around the head of the expanse of sluggish
water to a point from which he could later approach the cabin.
But the cabin proved to be better defended than he had foreseen;
and as he advanced, the difficulties of the task he had set
himself became almost insurmountable; yet sustained as he was by
his imperative need, he tore his way through the labyrinth of
trailing vines, or floundered across acre-wide patches of green
slime and black mud, which at each step threatened to engulf him
in their treacherous depths, until at the end of an hour he
gained the southern side of the clearing and a firmer footing
within the shelter of the woods.
Here he paused and took stock of his surroundings.
Pages:
359
360
361
362
363
364
365
366
367
368
369
370
371
372
373
374
375
376
377
378
379
380
381
382
383