IS THIS OUR RAFT OR NOT?
So anxious was Winn Caspar for the recovery of the raft lost through his carelessness and over-confidence in his own ability that, having found it again, he could not bear to lose sight of it, even though he had no idea of how he might regain its possession.

Therefore, as he stepped ashore after his rebuff by Grimshaw, he only went so far up the trail through the timber as to be concealed from the man's view.

Then he darted into the undergrowth and crept back to the river-bank.

He reached it just in time to see Grimshaw lock the door of the "shanty," leave the raft, and start up the trail that he himself had taken but a minute before.
How long would the man be gone?
Was there any one left on the raft?
These were the questions that came into the boy's mind.

There was no sign of life on the _Venture_, and by running a short distance up the trail Winn became convinced that the man had gone at least as far as the edge of the timber.