Evidently there was but one thing to be done--abandon it and walk.
So they landed, ate from their store of food and began a terrible and
toilsome journey. On either side of the river lay dessicated swamp
covered with dead reeds ten or twelve feet high. Doubtless beyond the
swamp there was high land, but in order to reach this, if it existed,
they would be obliged to force a path through miles of reeds. Therefore
they thought it safer to follow the river bank. Their progress was very
slow, since continually they must make detours to avoid a quicksand or
a creek, also the stones and scrubby growth delayed them so that fifteen
or at most twenty miles was a good day's march.
Still they went on steadily, seeing no man, and when their food was
exhausted, living on the fish which they caught in plenty in the
shallows, and on young flapper ducks that haunted the reeds. So at
length they came to the main river into which this tributary flowed, and
camped there thankfully, believing that if any pursuit of them had been
undertaken, it was abandoned. At least Alan and the rest believed this,
but Jeekie did not.
On the following morning, shortly after dawn, Jeekie awoke his master.
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