The deep curtain of fog began to thin and lighten.

Suddenly a canoe appeared through it and then a second.
A bullet, fired from the first canoe, whizzed dangerously near the head of Shif'less Sol.

He replied instantly, but the light was so uncertain and tricky that he missed the savage at whom he had aimed.

The heavy bullet instead ploughed through the side and bottom of the bark canoe, which rapidly filled and sank, leaving its occupants struggling in the water.

A bullet had come from the second canoe, also, but it flew wild, and then the whitish fog, thick and impenetrable, caught by a contrary current of wind, closed in again.
"Did you hit anything, Sol ?" asked Henry.
"Only a canoe, but I busted it all up, an' they're swimmin' from tree to tree until they get to the bank." "Now, boys, pull with all your might!" exclaimed Henry, "and, Paul, you steer us clear of trees, brush, logs, and snags.