CHAPTER II. A CLOSE SHAVE.
As Malvin had said, the river was lower by a foot or more than it hadbeen earlier in the summer. The Gallops were worse than Ralph hadhitherto seen them. In going up the river to the town that afternoontheir course had lain on the Canadian side, for it was impossible forany craft to ascend the rapids, no matter how powerfully engined.Therefore, Ralph had had no previous notion of the wildness of thewaters which were now hurtling the _River Swallow_ forward like a stoneout of a sling. Had he known what effect the drop in the river wouldhave had upon the swirling waters, it is likely that he would have takento the Canadian side on the return trip. But the voyage through therapids, as has been said, always exhilarated him; and, besides, it wasgrowing late, and the passage through the Gallops shortened the trip toDexter Island materially.
He was thinking these things over, giving all the while an alert mind tothe handling of the boat, when his attention was drawn to Malvin in themanner described. The man was apparently making no effort to use thesearch-light to find out the jagged outlines of the rock known as BigNigger. Instead, he appeared to be making aimless sweeps on the waterwith the light, and not trying in the slightest to locate the chiefmenace of the Gallops.
"Malvin!" called Ralph sharply.
"Sir!" the man's voice was steady and respectful.
"I told you to locate Big Nigger."
"I'm trying to, sir."
"Nonsense. You know as well as I do that the rock should lie off on theother side. We pass it to starboard. Why don't you cast the light inthat direction?"
"I will, sir. I quite forgot that for a minute, sir," was the response,in the same respectful tones.
"Odd that you should forget it," spoke Ralph, "when you have run theserapids scores of times! I don't understand----"
"Wow!"
The cry came from Hardware.
"Holy mackerel! Ralph!"
"Great Scott!"
Ralph spun the wheel over with every ounce of power at his command. Therapids strained and tore at the rudder frantically. It was as if theywished to aid and abet in the destruction of the _River Swallow_. Fordead ahead of the craft had loomed suddenly a sinister, menacing objectthat had caused the wave of panic to sweep over the boys on the bridgeof the motor boat.
Big Nigger Rock!
Revealed by the rays of the search-light as suddenly as if it had beenthrust upward by an unseen hand from the bottom of the rapids, the blackboulder that bore the name dreaded by rivermen had appeared.
"We're goners!" The cry came from Malvin.
He threw off his coat, and Ralph noted with astonishment, even asexcited as he was, that the man had on under that garment a lifepreserver!
But the boy had not a moment to ponder on this strange fact, although itlooked almost as if Malvin knew, by some marvelous instinct, thatsomething was going to happen and had prepared for it. All the boy'senergies just then were centered in one task: to keep the _RiverSwallow_ from being shattered into kindling wood against the gleaming,spray-wet sides of the Big Nigger.
"Shut down on your port engine; come full speed ahead on yourstarboard!"
Ralph had seized the flexible speaking-tube and roared the command downit.
"Jump now!" he added, as Persimmons' "Aye! aye!" came back to him.
It was the only chance of saving the _River Swallow_ from annihilation.By stopping one propeller and coming ahead on the other, Ralph hoped tobe able to aid the rudder enough to swing the _River Swallow's_ bowoutward from the rock.
Malvin paused by the rail. He had apparently been in the act of castinghimself into the waters that boiled and seethed alongside. But Ralph hadno time to notice the man now. All that he had eyes to see was thetowering black buttress of rock ahead of them, against which it appearedthat nothing short of a miracle could save the _River Swallow_ frombeing splintered.
Young Ware, white-faced and tense, stood by Ralph's side. Like Ralph, hesensed the full measure of the danger confronting them. Yet it spokevolumes for his pluck that he did not utter a sound after that firststartled exclamation had escaped him, when the Big Nigger swung into thesearch-light's vivid circle of white light. As for Persimmons in theengine room, he knew that some emergency must be confronting them. Yethe did not dream of deserting his post. Then the young skipper's voicecame down the tube once more.
"Get on a life preserver and come on deck. Quick! It may be life ordeath!"
The _River Swallow_ headed straight for the Big Nigger. Ralph, everynerve and muscle in his active body strained to the breaking point,exerted every effort at his command to stave off the apparentlyinevitable crash. He knew that he had done all he could to avert thedisaster that threatened to be swift and annihilating. All that was leftto do now was to await the issue. Suddenly a sharp exclamation escapedPersimmons' lips, and an instant later it was echoed by the others whomthe young engineer had joined on the bridge.
"She's swinging out!"
It was true. Out of the grasp of the rapids a boy's skill had snatchedvictory against what had appeared to be overwhelming odds.
The Gallops roared and screamed and threatened in a thousand voices.They danced and leaped like white teeth defrauded of their expectedprey. For that time at least they were to be cheated of a harvest ofdisaster to which, in the years gone by, they had become accustomed as aregular toll on the part of those who braved their fangs.
The _River Swallow's_ bow, forced outward by the engines and the rudder,swerved slowly to port. The next instant, at racing speed, she shot bythe Big Nigger, hurtled along like a helpless chip on the surface of themad waters.
So closely did they shave disaster that, from the bridge, it would havebeen possible with extended fingers to touch the rough surface of theBig Nigger as they were swept by. The next moment the peril that hadchilled the blood in their veins was behind them.
"And now for an explanation from Malvin," spoke Ralph grimly. "I ratherthink that there is one coming."
The Border Boys Along the St. Lawrence Page 3