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- 14,6
- The rabbit skin was very light and warm and soft. Jimmy snuggled down in it,
- and half dreamily watched the banks of the river slip past. He saw the Magic
- Forest through a haze, while before him the lithe bowsman swung his paddle
- tirelessly. The whispering swish swish of the water lulled him. At this
- early moment in a strange adventure Jimmy might have fallen sound asleep had
- not a diversion aroused him. The leading canoe suddenly stopped short, worked
- noiselessly sideways, and came to rest against the bank. The other canoes
- joined it. No word was spoken, and Jimmy was warned by an expressive gesture
- to keep silent. After a moment Ah-kik, the bowsman, drew from a long case a
- musket bound in brass. The canoe crept forward around the bend. Not a drip
- of water broke the stillness. Makwa was still paddling without raising the
- paddle from the water, with a barely perceptible motion of the wrists.
- Something exciting was going on! Jimmy did not know what it was, but his eyes
- grew large and bright, and he held himself so still as hardly to breathe.