He barked furiously all the while.

Alfred concluded that he must have been excited by a fox or perhaps a wolf; so he climbed down the steep bank and spoke to the dog.

Thereupon the dog barked louder and more fiercely than ever, ran to the water, looked out into the river and then up at the man with almost human intelligence.
Alfred understood.

He glanced out over the muddy water, at first making out nothing but driftwood.

Then suddenly he saw a log with an object clinging to it which he took to be a man, and an Indian at that.