CHAPTER VIII
CONQUERING THE RAPIDS
This part of the stream, for some two miles above the Ellison dam, wasdeep, still water, lying between quite steep banks, and there was littleperceptible current. So that now, the water being unruffled by any wind,the four canoes shot ahead at good speed, retaining generally theirrelative positions.
Tom and Bob gradually quickened their stroke, hoping to make some slightbut sure gain on the leaders; but the Ellison brothers were evidently ofa mind to hold their lead as long as possible, and continued to do so.This, however, was at the cost of some extra exertion, which might tellin the long run.
In the course of half an hour, after leaving the dam, the current beganto flow faster against them; now and then it came down over shoals ofquite an incline, so that they made better headway by getting out theirsetting-poles and using them, instead of the paddles.
Then, at a point a mile farther up stream, they came to rapids of someconsiderable extent, flowing quite swiftly and boiling here and therearound sunken rocks. The Ellison brothers had avoided this place, andwere to be seen now, on the right bank of the shore, carrying theircanoe with difficulty.
The shore here was broken up by the out-cropping of ledges, amid thebreaks of which a canoe must be carried with great care, as a false stepwould mean a bad fall and perhaps the smashing of the canoe. The onlyother alternative, besides the water, was to make a long detour throughthe off-lying fields, with loss of time.
Tom and Bob guided their craft swiftly in to land and proceeded to dragit ashore, as the Ellison boys had done. The Warren brothers followed,and Jack Harvey was turning his canoe in the same direction when a wordfrom his companion caused him to cease paddling.
"Jack," said Henry Burns, "I think we could make the rapids. What do yousay? If we win out, we may be in time to call the Ellison fellows back."
It was a rule of the race that, if a canoe succeeded in ascending anydifficult place in the stream, the successful pair was entitled to callback any of the other canoes that were still carrying around the place,and make them do likewise. If, however, any of the canoeists had madethe carry completely, and had launched their craft above, they could notbe called back.
The Ellison brothers were about half way up the carry at this time.
"I don't think we could do it, Henry," answered Harvey, to the other'ssuggestion. "We could get part of the way up, all right, but the lastfew rods are too steep."
He pointed, as he spoke, to the upper incline of the rapids, which was,indeed, much sharper than the first of the ascent, bending over from thehigher level of the stream abruptly, like a sheet of rounded, polishedebony; flowing smoothly but with great swiftness; then broken here andthere below with rocks, sharp and jagged, and foaming threateningly asit whirled past them.
"I think we can do it, Jack," insisted Henry Burns, quietly. "I rememberthe place. The water was a little higher when we came through in therain; but we ran these rapids, and don't you remember, half way downthat steepest part, we thought we were going to hit a sunken ledge--justto the right of the middle of the slope?"
"Why, yes, seems to me I do," replied Harvey, gazing ahead. "But Ididn't care much what we hit that evening, I was so wet and tired."
"Well, look now," continued Henry Burns. "You can see the water whirlingat that very spot. The ledge doesn't show above water, but it's there.What's the matter with working up to that, hanging on it till we getrested, and then make one quick push up over the top?"
"Oh, well," said Harvey, "I'm game. You seem to guess things right.We'll try it, anyway."
They pushed on into the first of the rapids, while the Ellison brothers,turning and espying what they were attempting, redoubled their effortsto make the carry. Tom and Bob cast a glance back, and also continuedalong the carry; but George and Arthur Warren, having seen Henry Burns'sschemes work successfully before, turned and came out to the rapids.There they waited, ready to make the attempt should they see it provesuccessful, or to be in a position to put hurriedly for shore should itprove a failure.
"Better come on. You're wasting time," called Tom Harris once, as he sethis end of their canoe down on a shelf of ledge. But Henry Burns made noreply, while Harvey only waved his paddle defiantly.
For several rods, Harvey and Henry Burns made fair progress, workingquick and sharp, plying their paddles with rapid thrusts. Little clumpsof white froth floated fast by them, indicating the swift running of thewater, and its disturbance. Then the stronger current caught them, andthey barely forged ahead. By the appearance of the water, looking downupon it as they struggled, they seemed to be flying; but it was thewater, and not they, that was moving rapidly. They hung close by thelittle points of projecting ledge for moments at a time, making noheadway. They redoubled their efforts, drove their paddles through thewater with desperate energy, and gained the first mark they had set.
Slowly the bow of the canoe crept up to a spot where the keen eyes ofHenry Burns had noted the sunken ledge, at a point only a rod from theupper incline. This ledge did not show above water, but the boiling ofthe stream and an almost imperceptible sloping of the surface on eitherhand showed that it was there.
Henry Burns leaned over the side of the canoe and gazed anxiously.Should the water there prove deeper than he had hoped, they would notground, and must be carried back, their strength exhausted. But he hadnot been mistaken.
In a moment the water suddenly shallowed. A hard thrust with thepaddles, and the canoe grated gently.
"Easy, Jack," cried Henry Burns. "She's hit. Get out the pole."
Harvey seized the setting-pole from the bottom of the canoe, droppinghis paddle in its place. He thrust it quick and with all his strengthinto the swift-running water. At a depth of about three feet it caughtthe rocky bottom and held. Harvey braced with the pole and shoved thebow of the canoe, which had touched on the part of the ledge that wasclose to the surface, a little farther ahead.
"Great!" shouted Henry Burns. "Take it easy now. She'll stay if the poledon't slip."
Harvey relaxed his exertions, holding the pole at an angle sufficient tokeep the canoe where it was, with only slight pressure. Henry Burns,dropping his own paddle and likewise taking up his setting-pole, got agrip in the rocks and aided his companion. They could rest now, with theswift water rushing past them on either bow, and recover their wind andstrength for the final struggle.
Their plan was, when they should have rested, to let the canoe drop backabout a foot, enough to clear the sunken ledge; then, before the currentshould catch them, to shove out into it quickly, turn the bow of thecanoe to meet the rush of the rapids, and push over with the poles, bymain strength. They could do it, if, as Henry Burns expressed it, thecanoe "did not get away from them."
The five minutes they waited seemed like hours. Away up along the carry,they could see the Ellison brothers, lifting their canoe across thebroken bits of shore; Tom and Bob some way behind these, hurrying asfast as they dared over the treacherous footing. But now, as theygathered their strength, and gently shoved their canoe back, a cry fromTom, who had noted their move, arrested the progress of the Ellisonboys. They paused for a moment and, with Tom and Bob, watched theoutcome, eagerly.
Alas! it was sharp and bitter for Henry Burns. The canoe hung for amoment, as they arrested its drifting with strong thrusts of the poles.Then it shot ahead, as they pushed its nose diagonally out into thesharp slope of the rapids. Henry Burns thrust his pole down hard, asthey cleared the sunken ledge, to swing the bow straight into thecurrent. But the bottom proved treacherous.
It was all over so quickly that neither he nor Harvey knew hardly how ithad happened. He only knew that the pole did not catch, but instead,struck the slippery face of a smooth bit of the rocky channel, slipped,gave way, and that he barely recovered his balance to avoid goingoverboard.
The next moment, the canoe had swung around, receiving the full force ofthe current broadside. A moment more, they were running with it andbeing borne down to where Geo
rge and Arthur Warren greeted them withcries--not all sympathetic--of "hard luck."
They had hardly got their canoe under control and turned it into aneddy, and had realized the unhappy turn of affairs, when a shout ofderision and triumph came down to them from the Ellisons. They had madethe carry successfully and were launching their canoe in the smoothwater above.
The Warren boys lost no time in paddling for shore. Tom and Bob, seeingthe discomfiture of their rivals, quickly picked up their canoe andproceeded along the carry. Harvey looked inquiringly at Henry Burns, whoturned, smiling and unruffled.
"Well?" said Harvey, "got enough?"
"No," replied Henry Burns, and added deliberately, with a twinkle in hiseyes, "we might as well do it, now we've started. We've got two days toget up over there in, you know."
"Good for you!" exclaimed Harvey. "Come on, if you're ready. We've gottime yet before Tom and Bob make the carry."
They bent to the paddles and got once more to the sunken ledge, pantingand perspiring, for they had worked hard and the current seemed,therefore, even swifter now than before. There, holding their canoe inplace, they waited a little longer than on the first attempt, to restand study the current.
"Let's try the right hand from the ledge this time," said Henry Burns."Those whirls mean shallow places. Perhaps the bottom isn't soslippery."
He pointed at some almost imperceptible breaks in the ebony surface ofthe slope, and Harvey agreed.
"I can shove this canoe up over there as sure as you're alive," saidHarvey, gazing proudly at a pair of muscular arms that were certainlyeloquent of strength; "that is, if you can keep her head straight. Don'ttry to do much of the poling. Just try to hold what I gain each time,till I can get a fresh hold. What do you say--rested enough?"
"Aye, aye, captain," replied Henry Burns, coolly. "Up we go."
Again the canoe dropped back a little from the ledge, and again theycaught and held it and shoved out into the current--this time on theright, instead of the left side.
Their comrades ashore watched anxiously. They saw the canoe strike theswift running of the water and hang for a moment, as if irresolute,uncertain whether it would turn its bow upstream or be swervedbroadside. The moment it hung there seemed minutes in duration. They sawHenry Burns, lithe and agile, but cool and self-possessed, strike hispole into the slope of the water where he had seen a shallow spot. Andthe pole held.
The watchers ashore saw the canoe slowly turn and face the swiftcurrent, lying upon its polished slope as though upon a sheet of glass.They saw Harvey in the stern set his pole and shove mightily, hismuscles knotted and his face drawn and grim with determination. They sawthe canoe slowly gain against the current.
"THE WATCHERS ASHORE SAW THE CANOE SLOWLY TURN AND FACETHE SWIFT CURRENT."]
At the edge of the slope it stood still for what seemed an age. They sawthe two in bow and stern struggle desperately again and again to wresttheir craft from the clutch of the current. Then, almost with a leap,freed from the fierce resistance of the rapids, the canoe slid over thebrink of the incline, into the deeper part of the stream above.
A moment later, they saw the poles dropped and the paddles snatched up.The canoe shot swiftly ahead, propelled by triumphant arms. The rapidswere conquered. Henry Burns and Harvey had won their hard fight.
In vain had Tom and Bob, hurrying recklessly, bumping their canoe alongthe rough shore, essayed to complete the carry before it would be toolate. To their chagrin and dismay, the sound of a horn blown three timeswith a vigour announced to them the triumph of their comrades. Sadlythey shouldered their canoe, which they had set down at the first blastof the horn, and turned their faces back along the trail, toward thefoot of the rapids.
Likewise, the Warren boys, accepting the inevitable, turned back andprepared to attempt the difficult feat which they had seen accomplished.At all events, they were, by reason of their position in the rear of Tomand Bob, in possession of that much advantage over the more skilledcanoeists.
"Whew! but that was a tough one," exclaimed Harvey, dipping his paddleleisurely, and recovering his breath. "Say, look at poor old Tom andBob--the champion canoeists. Bet they feel sore."
Henry Burns turned, looked back and smiled. Then, gazing up streamagain, he said, "Yes, but look there."
At a bend of the stream, fully a half mile ahead, the first canoe wasgliding easily along.
Harvey groaned. "And they'd be back there, too," he exclaimed, "if wehadn't made that slip. Never mind, there's another day coming."
It seemed a long, long time, and they, themselves, had reached a pointfully a half mile above the rapids, before they espied first one canoeand then another achieving the incline. They could not discern which wasin the lead, but it proved later to be the canoe handled by Tom and Bob,the Warrens having made two failures before succeeding, giving time tothe others to come up and pass them. They were about abreast now, comingalong slowly.
It was smooth paddling now, along the shores of green meadows andpasture land, until noon arrived. Then, at the signal of four blasts ofthe horn, by Harvey, answered in turn by all the others above and below,the canoes were drawn out on shore and luncheon was eaten. They built nofires, but ate what they had brought, cold. With an hour to rest in,the leaders strolled back to where Harvey and Henry Burns were, andchaffed them good-naturedly on their failure to make them take therapids, and over their own strong lead. To which, Harvey and HenryBurns, being good sportsmen, replied good-humouredly, assuring theEllisons they should beat them on "the next hard place."
The other canoeists remained where they were, and ate their luncheonstogether.
The Rival Campers Ashore; or, The Mystery of the Mill Page 8