Part 15 (1/2)

CHAPTER X

THE RAPID

In theJiaged at the settlement, because the Siwash are clever riveralong the rough bank with a line round their shoulders; soainst the rapid streao across a rocky portage The canoes were of the Siwash type, cut out of cedar logs and burned sh boas rudely carved like a bird's head; the floor was long and flat They paddled well and a strong man could carry one, upside down, on his bent shoulders Jim had loaded thee suress was slow and he was tired and disturbed when one evening he pitched cae Speed was iht, while he did not know if he could force his way up the dark gorge ahead Besides, an Indian had shown him the print of somebody's foot on a patch of wet soil

There was only one mark and in a sense this was ominous, since it looked as if the fellow had tried to keep upon the stones Moreover, he wore a heavy boot, and Jie where there were no ot ready to start again at daybreak This was his usual plan, because one's brain is dull when one rises from a hard, cold bed at dawn, and in the wilds to leave tools or food behind has sootten nothing, and when dusk was falling rested for a tiht it prudent to sleep on board Up stream, the water threw back faint reflections, but its surface was dull and wrinkled where it narrowed at the top of the rapid, round which he had carried the canoes Then it plunged down into gloom that was deepened by a cloud of spray and its hoarse tur the hills A few charred rampikes rose behind the caainst a stone He had thrown off his jacket and his thin overalls et His back and arms ached and his feet were bruised

He pondered about the footstep The pack-horse trail running North was not far off, and while he slowly poled up streahter could have reached the river in front of him When they talked at the hotel, the fellow's ht he would , and if the other had meant to do him some injury, it was hardly probable he would have uttered his dark hints while the landlord was about After all, the hints e transport another ti since

The glooer in the sky all night, it was nearly dark at the bottoe The packers lay about the fire, and by and by Ji one of the Siwash, hauled the first canoe to the bank When they got on board, he let the craft swing out with the eddy, and the row, curving as the current changed, rode behind a half-covered rock a short distance from the stones

Blurred rocks and trees looli snow and stained green by glacier clay, was running fast

There was not s of flour occupied the bottos to stow

Jim, however, found a spot where he could lie down and the Indian huddled in the stern He was a dark-skinned man, dressed like the white settlers, except that he wore no boots As a rule, he did not talk much, but by and by he put his hand in the water as if to measure the speed of the current

”_Contox hiyu chuck_,” he said in Chinook

Ji and did not know if this was a drawback or not A floodharder, but it would cover the rocks in the channel and probably leave an eddying slack along the bank He agreed with the Indian, because the rock to which they hadsmaller It made a kind of breakwater, but it would be covered soon and the craft would feel the force of the current Still they ought to ride safely, and an angry wash now beat against the bank of gravel where they had landed There was no other landing, for, below the camp, the river ran in white waves between the rocks

Although Ji, he had lost ti for the tools, and since wages were high, delay was costly Then the gorge echoed with pulsating noise The roar of the rapid rose and fell; he heard the wash of the eddy against the bank, the sharp ripple where the current split upon the rock, and the rattle of gravel striking the stones The canoes rocked, swung to and fro, and brought up with sudden jerks He did not know if the Indian slept, but if he did, a new note in the confused uproar would waken hiure rose Ji fixedly ahead, but Jiloom He noted mechanically that the rock had vanished; its location was ned to the Indian, who grunted but did not speak

Then there was a crash as soue darkround the obstacle It rolled, and half-seen projections vanished and appeared again Jiined a big log with broken branches was driving down on theht capsize her He found botto hard The row of canoes swung towards the bank, but the backwash caught theh Jihten and the pole bend as he strained with labored breath

The log cah and swinging round There was a heavy shock, the canoe lurched, and a broken branch began to drag her down Jio the pole, seized an ax He cut theline to ease the strain, but when the rope parted and the log swung clear he was faced by another risk; unless they could reach the gravel bank, they would go down the rapid He could not find botto struck the next canoe His canoe swerved outshore, the roas drifting fast, and he shouted as he felt for the ax

It was, however, obvious that the men in camp could not help much and he nerved himself to o down the rapid; if he let two go, oneand canoes vanished, and he and the Indian strained their ravel bank was sliding past, and angry waves leaped about the rocks below Somehow they must make the bank before they were carried down There was some water in the canoe; Jim heard it splash about She was horribly heavy and his pole would not grip the bottom

When it slipped the current washed its end under the craft

He threw the pole on board and found a paddle The canoe rocked on a white eddy, but he got her head round and the revolution carried her towards the shore Theyher off, and for so chest Then a packer plunged in, the bow struck ground, and Jim jumped over He was up to his waist in the white turmoil, but another packer seized the canoe and the Indian thrust hard on his bending pole The boent farther into the gravel and with a savage effort they ran her out Jiet his breath, and when he looked about the other canoes had vanished His tools and stores had gone for good

Now there was no need for watchfulness, he could sleep, and he lay down by the fire When he wakened day was breaking, and beckoning the Indian he set off up the gorge He had an object for his dangerous climb across the slippery rocks, and he noted that the strea were rolled into the water on his side of the straight reach, it would probably strike the rock behind which the canoes had been tied

After a tih above the water, the Indian indicated a cluh which soh and one had carried an ax Jiot stern as they cliully At the top he sat down and sent the Indian to look about It the other ain to the water, they ht he knehat the grounds were

The Indian found steps in a boggy patch, and Ji a ravine farther on, came back to the river bank Here and there a tree had fallen into the ravine and two or three battered trunks lay on the gravel at the bottoe indicated that another log had rested there, and Jian to talk

He said the marks had been made by a trunk with branches broken short; one could see where it had rolled into the streas had not slipped down; thetrunk had been helped on its way In one place, the top had been lifted; in another, a pole had been pushed under the butt Soravel was scratched, as if it had been trodden by nailed boots Aa lever would push it back like that

Jiht the Indian had read the marks correctly Now and then the fellow said ”_Contox_,” and Jihly, means to know, rather implied supposition than certainty For all that, if the Indian doubted, he did not He knew the log had been launched where the current would carry it down on the canoes, and when he went back to camp his mouth was set hard