To say that Mr. Grimshaw was rendered uneasy and apprehensive by this
sudden appearance of one whom he suppose to be hundreds of miles away,
and who was also the very person he was most anxious to avoid, would by
no means express his feelings. 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. Perhaps he had friends in hiding near
by, to whom he had gone to report. In that case his own safety
demanded that he discover them before they reached the raft. The boy
had already disappeared in the timber, and there was no time to be lost
in following him.
Thus reasoning, Grimshaw left the "shanty," locking its door behind him
as he did so, and springing ashore, hastened up the trail, along which
Winn had disappeared a few seconds before.
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