He reached it and put one hand upon the side.

Then a heavy fist stretched entirely over the canoe and struck him such a mighty blow upon the jaw that he sank senseless, and when he revived two minutes later on a low bank where the current had cast him, he did not know what had happened to him.
Meanwhile the uncaptured canoe sailed on in lonely majesty down the stream.
"That was a shrewd blow of yours, Dave," said Robert.

"You struck fairly upon his jaw bone." "It's not often that I fight an Indian with my fists, and the chance having come I made the most of it," said the hunter.

"He may have been a sentinel set to watch for just such an attempt as we are making, but it's likely they thought if we made a dash for it we'd be in the canoe." "It was great wisdom for us to swim," said Tayoga.

"Another sentinel seeing the canoe may also think it was washed away somewhere and is merely floating on the waters.