men built a fire to dry themselves and from a box of bread and bacon which the waves threw ashore, they made a frugal supper.

use when he was a boy. The company was indeed much in need of some kind of shelter because little Tim was not at all himself

e sick," said Tatanka.

large cupful of hot tea made by steeping some green plants in hot water

is the way our women cure their children, and

permanent camp a little way below the foot of

delivered here and hauled by wagon to the head of the lake, where they were loaded on other steamers for shipment

t Little Tim grew so sick that it was impossible to move him, and the men de

ka, "and he will be sick a long time. M

o pain, he had no appetite, and his sm

typhoid fever, but there was no doctor within fifty miles of Reed's Landing. Barker and Tatan

freezes over," said Tatanka, after a we

the sick boy. The two men bought a boat of the trader and finished a canoe the trader had begun. They als

ought a boat

summer and fall, but in winter it is too co

ck boy comfortable. They gathered wild cherries and gave him the jui

the lake freezes up you and Bill must go skating and yo

to secure enough food, for both of them knew how t

and as the Mississippi and its grand winding bottoms are one of the great highways

ous in autumn colors, for no river in the world surpasses the upper Mississippi in the almost inconceivable profusion of autumn flowers and in the gorgeous effects o

h, spread the blue sky, with flee

ld ask, "what are the birds

take an interest in things, "I think they are martins, the kind that nested in the

. Around this tree a small flock of swifts

g!" asked Bill. "Wh

ys know," he answered. "If you

and dropped into the dark hollow like so many stones. After half an hour the last bird had dropped to its sleeping-perch and Bill thumped the tree w

ple say they have no feet, but they have, only they are very small and the swifts use them merely for clinging to walls

ve found other sleeping-places; they roost by thousands in chimneys of court-houses, churches, and schools. And before white men light their fires, when th

lock of humming-birds soon found them and came to them several times every day. Within reach of the boys' hands, the little bird gems hung motionless on invisible wings. 'At times they perched, and preened their delic

ngs," Tim said, as he turn

ked Tatanka. "When a sick pers

roposed a new kind of hunting to Bill. "Let us go on

nt, and wanted to know what Mr.

want to get some honey, and in order to do that we

nd caught a bee, after it had worked fo

said to Bill, "and point your finger in the direction

the bee, but he followed through grass and

Bill picked himsel

es and I can't run as fast as I once could, so I took you along to do the spying and

same direction and then caught another bee. Again Bill

d until they came close to th

mself gleefully. "If it doesn't end at some settler's

led: "We've passed the tree, so we'll just work back carefully and watch for a good-looking h

hout running a cross-line. "Here they are, here they

ering and leaving a knot-hole a

in a good place for us. Sometimes they go into a holl

some honey. Now let's go home and