CHAPTER VII.
WHAT HAPPENED IN THE DARK Shif'less Sol rose to a sitting position, and carefully cracked his joints, one by one.
"I wuz a bit afeard, Paul," he said, "that I had jest petrified, layin' thar so long.

A tired man likes to rest, but thar ain't no sense in turnin' hisself into a stone image." Sol seemed so careless and easy that Paul drew an inference from his manner.
"You are not expecting anything more from them just now, Sol ?" His nod toward the forest indicated the "them." "No, not yet a while," replied Shif'less Sol.

"I guess they'll lay by until night." His face showed some apprehension as he spoke of night, but it was gone quickly.

Shif'less Sol was not a man who took troubles to heart, else he never would have earned his name.
"We'll jest chaw a little more venison, Paul," he said.

"I know you think a drink o' water would go pow'ful well with it, an' so do I; but since it ain't to be had, we'll jest do without it and say no more." The remainder of the day passed undisturbed, but as the first wan shade of twilight appeared the men began to look closely to their arms.