"
During the week which followed, with the exception of the Sabbath, the two
laboured industriously, save at such tittle as one or the other spent in
hunting, and Walter could see the outlines of the structure he intended
one day to build.
A large pile of rocks had been rolled together to form the lower walls,
huge timbers were hewn and roughly "squared " for the framework, and a
road from the riverbank to the highway, four miles distant, was "blazed" a
goodly portion of the way.
During all this time, while he had laboured as industriously as if it was
some project of his own, the Indian remained comparatively silent. He had
told the rescuer his name was Sewatis; that he was a member of the
Penobscot tribe, and acquainted with "Jim Albert," but never a word
regarding the reason for being in that vicinity.
There had been no scarcity of food; the forest teemed with game, and if
the labourers fancied deer, bear or birds, it was only necessary to go a
short distance from the encampment in order to get it.
Almost unconsciously Walter had explained to his assistant what it was he
hoped to do. There had been many times when it seemed positively necessary
he should speak with some one, and to the silent Indian the boy talked
freely. It was as if thinking aloud, because no reply was made unless one
was absolutely required; and it is quite possible the young messenger
would have been greatly surprised had some one been there to tell him he
had confided more fully in Sewatis than in any other person except his
mother.
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