noon
As they slid over the water , leaving the miles rapidly behind them , Walter kept a sharp watch on either bank for signs of the outlaws . That they were still hunting for him and his friends , he felt no doubt , but he cherished faint hopes that he had distanced them during the night . He consoled himself with the thought that even were they captured , death by a bullet would be far quicker and less painful than a slow , lingering death from fever and starvation . All day the despairing lad paddled ahead , pausing only at noon for a brief space to rest his wearied arms and drink sparingly of the river water , which , black and foul as it was , reeked with fever . Charley , on his bed in the bow , tossed and muttered incessantly . Every once in a while , Walter would crawl forward and sprinkle cold water on the lad 's hot face ; it was all he could do to relieve the sufferer , whose ravings fell heavily on his anxious heart . As the afternoon wore away , Walter 's strength began to fail ; the mental strain , steady work , the blistering sun , and lack of food , were fast telling on him .