"Ah's a gone coon!" he wailed, after that one yell. "Ah's a goin' whar de good niggers go! Good bear! Good bear!" he added coaxingly.
The bear looked upon the scene for a moment longer with disapproving eyes and then turned away. For a moment he was seen walking on jammed logs, alternately wading through shallow places, and then he was lost in the darkness.
"There!" Alex. called out to Mose, "you've frightened our bear off!"
"Dat yo' bear?" asked Mose. "Den yo' keep yo' animile out our ya'd!"
Although frequently invited to return to the boat, Mose insisted on keeping his place in the tree. Now and then he called out that a bear or a deer was about to board the _Rambler_, but for the most part he sat still, looking about for more things to be frightened at!
The _Rambler_ was now securely fastened in between the two trees, standing on a level, or floating on a level, rather. There was considerable water under the deck, it having worked its way down through the joints about the hatches, and the boys proceeded to lift all available covers and bail it out.
"How are we ever going to get out of here?" asked Jule, working away with a basin and a sponge. "These trees will hold us forever."
"We'll have to cut them down, Silly!" answered Case. "Just as soon as the water goes down, we'll crawl out on one of the mattresses and fix the propellers."
"Mattresses!" answered Jule. "They drifted away long ago."
"Look ahead and see," remarked Case, and Jule did so.
The willow and brake mattresses which had been towed down stream were loose from the motor boat, but they were in sight, having lodged against the mud bank farther in the swamp. They could be reached, the boys figured, by a little wading after the flood subsided, which it was certain to do before long.
"You see," Case went on, "the trees will hold the boat up, like it was in a dry dock, and we can fix the propellers and the leak and then chop down the trees and get out. Perhaps we can follow this channel out to the river. If there wasn't an opening somewhere, the current here wouldn't be so fierce!"
"There may be a channel," Clay agreed, "but if there is it must be full of standing trees and hidden snags. If we ever get out of here, we'd better run back to the main channel, and keep out of such holes in future!"