“It’s possible that it may not happen,” Russ answered, slowly, and his words seemed rather ominous to the two girls, at least.

“Oh, don’t worry,” advised Mrs. Maguire.  “We’ll be all right, I’m sure.  At the same time it might be a good plan not to eat all the food we have.”

“Oh, I agree to that!” said Alice, hastily.

“I’ll shoot a wild turkey to-morrow,” promised Paul, with a laugh.  “Then we will have a real Thanksgiving feast.”

“I hope we don’t have to stay as long as that,” sighed Ruth.  “Oh, how father will worry!” she said to Alice.

“Probably, but it can’t be helped.  He will know we would come back if we could, and he’ll know we will take care of ourselves.”

“Still, he can’t help worrying,” insisted Ruth.

Fortunately the boat was a roomy one, and the lost ones were not as uncomfortable as might have been imagined, with the rugs and cushions and the piece of canvas, as well as their raincoats, for covering.

The craft was tied to a tree on shore, in a sort of little cove, and there the five prepared to spend the night.  The moon came up higher over the trees, and shone down on the strange scene.

“I wish it were light enough for some pictures,” sighed Russ.

“Nothing much gets away from you, old man,” laughed Paul.  “Are your ladies comfortable?” he asked, as he joined Russ in the bow of the boat, the other three being in the broad stern.

“Very comfortable,” answered Alice.  “Only I wish we had brought a mosquito netting along.  The little pests are after me with a vengeance.”

“I can build a smudge on shore, and that may keep them off,” offered Russ.  “In fact, a smudge is about the only kind of a fire I could make, as everything is so damp.”

This proved to be the case.  But a heavy smoke was soon floating over the boat, and this did seem to keep away the pests.

“What had we better do?” asked Russ of Paul, as they piled more damp fuel on the smudge-fire.

“Well, we’ll have to stand watch and watch, of course.  And we will have the gun ready.  It’s all loaded.  No telling what might happen.  A bobcat might take a notion to come aboard, or an alligator might nose us out.  We’ll have to be on the watch.”

Little or nothing could be told about the surrounding country in the darkness, even illuminated as it was by the moon.  The river stretched away in either direction, and both banks were heavily wooded.

“Br-r-r! but it’s creepy here!” sighed Ruth, as the two young men got into the boat again.

“Is that a light—­a lantern—­off there?” asked Alice, suddenly, as she sat up and pointed.

For a moment they all hoped that it was, and they raised their voices in shouts: 

“Here we are!”

“Look for our lantern!”

Then as the other light moved about erratically Russ said: 

“It’s only ignis-fatuus—­will-o’-the-wisp.  It’s a sort of phosphorescent glow that appears at night over swamps.  I’ve seen it in rotting stumps on hot nights.”