What's that ?" The sudden snapping of a twig by some bird or small animal caused them to start, and listen for a moment with uplifted paddles.

The canoe thus left to itself, unguided, drifted aside, and hung for an instant upon the upraised end of a sunken log.

Rene reached his hand down into the water to push it clear of the obstruction, but suddenly withdrew it with a suppressed cry of pain and fright.

At the same moment a large water-snake, of the kind known as a moccasin, glided away, and disappeared beneath the slimy bank..