Part 21 (2/2)

”The appeal seele from me

When he caht of him as he climbed the bank, and kept my eyes upon him until he disappeared over the crest He had left me without a word

”The water was cold and swift, and the strength of , and I realized, loath as I was to ad under the ice It was a grave ly pictures for me, and the probabilities, as it presented them, soon flustered h out of the water,' I told h! Now my chin is within four inches of the ice I've lost three inches I'm lost!'

”With that I tried to release my feet froht position, to liftso swiftly that it dangled s as it willed, and the rotten ice h

”I lost a full inch of position So I settled ht coh terror or despair My eyes were fixed stupidly upon the bend in the river, far dohere a spruce-clothed bluff waswith the dusk

”What with the cold and the drain upon th, it may be that my mind was a blank when relief ca ti; and it ith a shock that John's words restored me to a vivid consciousness of my situation

”'Catch hold!' said he

”He had crawled near h I had not known of his approach, and he was thrusting towardspole, which he had cut in the bush It was long, but not long enough I reached for it, but runted and crept nearer Still it was beyond me, and he dared venture no farther He withdrew the pole; then he crept back and unfastened his belt Working deliberately but swiftly, he bound the belt to the end of the pole, and caain He cast the belt within reach, as a fisherht it, clutched it, and was hauled froth

”'John,' I said, as we drew near to the half-way cabin, 'I know your blood, and it's all very well to be careful not to say tootoo little Why didn't you tellwhen you started for that pole?'

”'Huh!' said John, as if his faithfulness to me in every fortune were quite beyond suspicion

”'Yes, I know,' I insisted, 'but a word or tould have saved me a deal of uneasiness'

”'Huh!' said he”

CHAPTER XXI

_In Which a Bearer of Tidings Finds Hi Rapid_

”We passed that night at the cabin, where a roaring fire warmed me and dried my clothes,” David's friend continued ”My packet of letters was safe and dry, so I slept in peace, and ere both as chirpy as sparroe set out the nextwarh the bush for round and swamp-land By noon et to the knees; but this circuh later it gave me the narrowest chance for life that ever came within my experience

”We made Swift Rapids late in the afternoon, when the sun was low and a frosty as freezing the pools by the way The post at Little Lake lay not more than three miles beyond the foot of the rapids, and when the swish and roar of water first fell upon our ears we hallooed most joyfully, for it see distance of our destination

”'No,' said John, e stood on the shore of the river

”'I think we can,' said I

”'No,' he repeated