The bravest soldier, no matter how cool his bearing, feels a sense of
awe and dread when the rattle of rifles along the skirmish line tells
him that the murderous battle has begun.
If there be men who never felt fear under such nerve-trying
circumstances, then they certainly deserve no credit, for true courage
consists in the determination to face a danger while fully comprehending
its awful possibilities.
Sam Willett wisely decided not to picture to Ike and Wah Shin the
dangers that lay before them; but while doing this he did not attempt to
hide from himself the fact that within a few hours himself and his
faithful companions might be the dead playthings of the wild waters.
As calmly and sternly as the cavalry leader wheels his battalions into
line in front of the murderous artillery which he intends to charge, Sam
Willett made his preparations for the passage of the rapids.
He strengthened the raft and fastened to it their arms and blankets, and
then to prevent their being washed off, or lost if they fell overboard,
he insisted that each should tie a rope about his waist, the other end
being fastened to the logs.
It was not until the last precautions against the danger that lay ahead
were proposed that Ike began to feel greatly alarmed.
"Golly, Mistah Sam," he said, with trembling lips, "hitchin ob oursels
to dese yar logs wif ropes looks to me kinder skittish."
"I hope they may not be needed," said Sam, as he made ready to push the
raft off.
"You seed dem currents down de ribber?"
"I did."
"Pooty ugly, ain't dey?"
"We must pass them."
"'Twas dem as drownded Ulna?"
"He fell from a rock into the river."
"Den if he couldn't swim back, dem currents must be mighty bad."
"No can stay hele; no can backee go; den wat we do; allee same we mustee
glong down ribbel," said Wah Shin, who seemed to have no trouble in
taking in the situation.
"Wa'al," said Ike, desperately, "I reckon de job's got to be did. I
don't want to be drowned way down har, when no one won't neber heah ob
me agin, an' moah 'ticklah, Mistah Sam, I doesn't want you to die, but
if dat be de good Lor's will, den I says amen, an' goes ahead."
Sam at first thought that he would tie Maj to the raft, but as the
animal had not the reason to avail himself of this advantage, he decided
to let him take his chances if he should be washed off.
"Now, I am about to push off," said Sam, standing at the stern with the
pole in his hand, "and if we get into danger I want you both to keep
cool and do as I say. Don't yell out, or try to hang on to each other,
if the raft should go to pieces."
Ike and Wah Shin promised to do as they were told, and then with a
mental prayer to Heaven to guide and protect him, Sam set one end of the
pole against the bank and pushed the raft into the current.
"Dis don't seem so powahful bad," said Ike, as he looked ahead and saw a
smooth expanse extending for nearly a half mile in front.
"Not so bad, Ike," said Sam, his eyes fixed on the bend, beyond which he
knew the dreaded rapids rolled.
As they drifted on he could not help recalling the mighty falls of
Niagara which he had visited with his father a few years before.
He remembered that a few miles above the falls the majestic river flowed
on grandly and swiftly, without a ripple to break its glassy surface, or
a murmur to suggest the frightful plunge it was soon to take. Then came
the roaring rapids and the thundering fall.
What if these rapids ended in the same way?
This thought had just flashed through his mind, when the raft shot past
the rock from which Ulna had fallen, and the next instant it swung round
the bend, and the thunder of the waters was heard and the seething white
waves came to view.
Every stick of timber in the raft groaned, as if it were a sentient
being, trembling at its coming destruction.
Ike and Wah Shin fell flat on the logs and clung to them with all their
might, not daring to look at the prospect ahead.
Even Sam dropped on his knees and gazed steadily in front, while the dog
crept towards him, and, with a plaintive whine, thrust his nose into his
master's breast.
Sam soon discovered that it would not only be useless, but absolutely
dangerous to attempt to steer the raft, so he hauled in the pole and
with his hands clung to the logs on either side.
The speed at which they went down soon became so frightfully great that
the objects along the shore could not be distinguished, but became
streaked and confused to their sight.
Now and again the raft would strike against one of the black rocks, that
rose like a monster out of the water, and then it would spin and whirl
down the torrent as if determined to throw off its occupants.
Bend after bend was passed, and Sam began to think that the rapids
extended indefinitely, when to his horror the raft struck against
another rock, and with such force that the ropes, fastening one end,
snapped and broke like a silken thread in the hands of a giant.
At the same instant the logs parted and spread out like a fan, throwing
all the occupants into the water.
Now the wisdom of Sam's precaution in tying themselves to the raft
became evident.
Had it not been for this they would have been swept apart and drowned at
once, but as it was the ropes not only kept them together, but enabled
them to haul themselves back to the logs and cling to them for support.
The dog was, of course, thrown out with the others, and was at once
swept beyond reach, though for some minutes Sam could see the brave
creature facing the current and making a desperate effort to swim back.
Sam was just beginning to feel that the raft must soon go to pieces,
when they were suddenly swept around a bend and into a calm expanse of
water, though a few hundred yards further on he saw the line of white
foam that indicated other rapids ahead.
Calling to his companions to assist him, and putting forth a superhuman
effort himself, Sam succeeded in getting the raft out of the current and
into a little cove where there was shallow water and a ledge of smooth,
shelving rocks that made a good landing place.
They straightened out the logs, made them fast again, and then they took
off the arms and frayed blankets that had not been swept from the raft
by the rocks and rapids.
This done the three clambered up to a dry place, though they were so wet
that it would not have made any difference if they stood in the water.
Thinking that Ulna might have made a landing at some point along the
shore of this calm expanse, Sam looked up and down both banks, but
excepting Ike, Wah Shin and himself there was not a living creature in
sight, even the dog had been unable to resist the force of the current.
"Dis am a mighty bad fix, sure enuff," were Ike's first words as he
surveyed his dripping form and then began slowly to take in the
situation.
"It might be worse," was Sam's comment, though if he had been called on
to explain how it well could be worse, he would have been at a loss to
tell.
"Watel we do nex," asked Wah Shin, and he half-raised his hands and let
them fall again to indicate his utter helplessness.
Sam could not reply. He would have felt a great sense of relief if
either of the others had made a reasonable suggestion.
It was growing dark, and he knew that it would be madness to attempt the
river again till the light of another full day lay before them.
In answer to Wah Shin's question, Ike said:
"I'll tell yeh w'at I'd like to do, Wah."
"I can tellee mesel lat too," said Wah Shin.
"In de fust place I'd like some nice dry clothes."
"I too," said Wah.
"Den I wouldn't mind bein' in a nice house."
"Ugh," and Wah shrugged himself as if he thought that a very lovely
idea.
"Den," continued Ike, as he smacked his lips, "I'd like to be a settin'
down to a table in dat house."
"Ha!" cried Wah.
"An'--an' I'd like to hab dat table filled way up wid good tings, an' me
a settin' dar free to pile in all I wanted----"
"Dat am belly nice," said Wah.
"Den arter I'd eat, an' eat an' eat, till I couldn't more'n stan', I'd
have some one pick me up and tote me off to de wahmest, softest bed----"
At this point Sam interrupted by saying:
"We must all take off our clothes and wring them out, for I am not going
to try it again till morning."