“It was only an accident,” he said. “A canoe can overturn anywhere.”

“Leave me alone,” I said.

He looked away. I think he was crying.

Well, there was no future in sitting on the bank of a river feeling sorry for ourselves.

“We will have to make a raft,” I said. “If we cut dry logs, we can—”

I stopped. The expression on Tim’s face was ghastly.

“I left the axe in the canoe,” he said.

I had no words for him. His carelessness in beaching the canoe had cost us its use. His failure to take the axe out of it had perhaps cost us our lives.

“I’ve still got my knife.”

“We can’t cut logs for a raft with a pocket knife,” I said.

“What are we going to do?” he asked.

“I don’t know,” I said. “Let me think. You go and see if you can find something for us to eat. I’ll soak some beans meanwhile. We had better plan on staying here tonight.”

He left, glad for something to do. I sat down and stared at the water rushing past.

There was no way now for us to follow this branch of Cold River. We’d be lucky to do three or four miles a day along its banks. The walking, without a trail, would be too difficult.

No, we would have to set off cross-country. I hoped Tim still had his compass. I tried to remember the lay of the land. I knew that there were hundreds of square miles of wilderness around us. But it seemed to me that by striking off southeast, we would stand the best chance of cutting a trail or coming on some sign of human habitation.

I got the fire going again and put a handful of beans in the pot to soak. Now that we would be walking, it would not be possible for us to carry all the gear. We would have to take only that which would be the most useful.

We needed at least one of the pots, that was sure. And the matches and the blankets. There were just a couple of pounds of beans left, and some salt. The extra clothes could be worn, unless the days got too warm.

As I wrestled with plans for the next day, I took off my boots and with my feet felt around in the clean sand where the canoe had been. I soon found half a dozen clams, and after rinsing them off, I put them in the pot. When the water was warm, they opened up. I pried them out and threw the shells away, and put their meat back in the pot. The beans were soaking in the other pot. It would be an hour or more until they were ready to put on the fire.