He had a map of the country in his brain, but that was for daylight use only.  He was hungry, and that was nothing; but he was parched with thirst from his long labor, and that was everything.  He had seen no dry land during the day, and it was hopeless to look for it at night.  It was never easy to keep the canoe balanced; if he dozed for an instant he would certainly roll it over.  He had made up his mind to sentry duty for the night when through the darkness there came to him a gleam of light from a far-distant fire.  As he approached, it brightened and sent up a crackling flame, in the blaze of which Ned saw the tall palmettos of his camp.

“Were you worried, Dick?” he asked after the first warm greetings were over.

“I sure was.  I thought you couldn’t get lost and wondered what had happened to you.  Tom was uneasy, too, and I reckon he is out looking for you now.  He went away in a good deal of a hurry.  I made a lighthouse out of those palmetto fans that you cut for my bed, just on the chance of your having lost your way.”

Tom came home about daylight and lay down beside Dick, where he grumbled and growled as if he were a man with a next-morning headache.

When daylight came and Ned began to bestir himself, he missed the cheery “Good-morning” of his companion, who was not able to lift his head from his pillow of palmetto.  His wan smile went to Ned’s heart, and the boy had to busy himself with the fire to hide his emotion.  Every hour of that day he watched over the invalid, and from time to time tempted him with bits of broiled bird, heron soup and sips of hot tea made from leaves of the sweet bay.  Ned’s acquaintance with sickness was slight and his apprehension great, so that the night was a sleepless one and the day that followed brought no relief to his mind.  Another day brought new anxieties.  Dick was no better, and Ned couldn’t bear to leave him, for the invalid’s thirst was continuous, but now the supply of fresh water was running low, and a trip back to the river was imperative.  He put the bucket, with what water was left, beside Dick’s bed and said: 

“Dick, boy, I’ve got to go for some water.  I’ll have to be away a few hours, but I’ll get back the first minute it is possible.”

Dick put out his hand, and his smile was cheery, though his voice was weak as he said: 

“Don’t you worry, Neddy.  I’m all right for all day.  I don’t need anything but amusement, and Tom will ’tend to that.”

“I’m afraid to leave a big wildcat with you when you are so weak.  I am going to take Tom with me.”

“Don’t do it, Neddy.  He’d only be in your way, and I do want him for company.  You don’t understand Tom; he likes me and I like him.  Please don’t take him away.”

“Of course I won’t take him away, Dick, boy, but you will have to be very good and keep cheerful and get strong and well to pay me for leaving him.”