He was so terrified and unnerved that for a moment he thought of leaving the raft to its fate, and making good his own escape while he had time.

Then he wondered if it would not be better to cast it loose and drift away through the fog to some new hiding-place.

It would never do to go without his partners, though; for, in the first place, he could not manage the raft alone, and in the second there was no knowing what Gilder would do if he thought himself deserted and perhaps betrayed.

No, he must find his associates without delay, and warn them of this unexpected danger.

He wondered if the boy were alone.