He thought once or twice of leaping for it again, but there was a shift of the wind and he caught the human odor from the two beings who lay forty yards away.

He was a large and strong beast of prey, but this odor frightened him, and he slunk off among the trees, not to return.
Ned and Obed stayed two days beside the little river, taking a complete rest, bathing frequently in the fresh waters, and curing as much of the deer as possible for their journey.

Then, rather heavily loaded, they started anew, always going northward through a sad and rough land.

Now they entered another bare and sterile region of vast extent, walking for five days, without seeing a single trace of surface water.

Had it not been for their capacious water bottles they would have perished, and, even with their aid, it was only by the strictest economy that they lived.