The whole scene was saturated with the beauty and the majesty of the wilderness, and to the eye that did not know it suggested only peace.

But Robert often lifted his gaze from the paddle and the river to search the green thickets on either side.

They were only casual glances, Willet being at once their sentinel and guard.
The great hunter was never more keenly alert.

His thick, powerful figure was poised evenly in the canoe, and the long-barreled rifle lay in the hollow of his arm, his hand on the lock and his finger on the trigger.
Eyes, trained by many years in the forest, searched continually among the trees for a figure that did not belong there, and, at the same time, he listened for the sound of any movement not natural to the wilderness.

He felt his full responsibility as the rifleman of the fleet of one canoe, and he accepted it.
"Lads," he said, "we're approaching the narrowest part of the river.