Why didn't I think of it before ?" Thrusting the butt end of his pole into the soft earth of the bank, and weighting it with a good, sized stone, the boy went to the boom to examine its contents.

There were plenty of logs suitable for the foundation of a raft, and more than enough lumber to deck it handsomely.

But what was that brown stuff filling so many of the crevices between the logs and timbers?
"Wheat, as I'm a living boy!" exclaimed Winn, stooping and gathering some of the stuff in his hands.

"Wheat! but where can it have come from?
Did the _Venture_ suddenly break up and go to pieces after all, as Mr.Gilder said she would ?" If so, then the situation was worse than he had supposed, for until now the boy had entertained some hopes of being able to follow and perhaps recover the raft, especially if his father should come along and discover him.

But if the raft were broken up, as the presence of this wheat seemed to indicate, then its loss was indeed total and irreparable.
"But if they have not gone off with the raft, what has become of those river traders ?" argued the boy with himself.