Do you understand this reasoning, youngster?"
"It sounds well- yes, it has a rational sound; and I'll not gainsay
it."
"Well, old Tom," cried Hurry, "If we are to move, the sooner we
make a beginning, the sooner we shall know whether we are to have
our scalps for night-caps, or not."
As this proposition was self-evident, no one denied its justice.
The three men, after a short preliminary explanation, now set
about their preparations to move the ark in earnest. The slight
fastenings were quickly loosened; and, by hauling on the line, the
heavy craft slowly emerged from the cover. It was no sooner free
from the incumbrance of the branches, than it swung into the stream,
sheering quite close to the western shore, by the force of the
current. Not a soul on board heard the rustling of the branches,
as the cabin came against the bushes and trees of the western bank,
without a feeling of uneasiness; for no one knew at what moment, or
in what place, a secret and murderous enemy might unmask himself.
Perhaps the gloomy light that still struggled through the impending
canopy of leaves, or found its way through the narrow, ribbon-like
opening, which seemed to mark, in the air above, the course of
the river that flowed beneath, aided in augmenting the appearance
of the danger; for it was little more than sufficient to render
objects visible, without giving up all their outlines at a glance.
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