AT THE FALLS OF THE COLUMBIA
"I HOPE you don't think I'm discouraged, Dick, because so far no fish
has come near my hook?" remarked Roger, when the time came to wrap
their blankets around them and seek rest.
"Oh! I know you too well to believe that," replied the other. "From now
on I expect to see you doing your best to land a prize. Sooner or later
success is bound to come, Roger."
"I know it," was the confident way the other spoke; "because I've
always made it my business to stick to the old motto, 'If at first you
don't succeed, try, try again.' And even if the fish refuse to look at
my bait I've got that spear, you remember. One of these days I'll find
a chance to launch it, and bring up a salmon worth looking at."
Dick always liked to hear Roger talk that way. It was his constancy
that in the past had won him many a battle; for Roger had a stubborn
streak in his nature and would come back again and again to make new
attempts. As the water by everlasting dripping will wear away a stone,
so this "never-say-die" spirit often won out in the end.
Nothing disturbed the slumbers of the travelers during that first night
upon the bank of the Lewis River. They started again early in the
morning, for, now that the end of their journey was almost in sight, a
fever began to possess them to cover the ground as rapidly as possible.
New sights opened up to their gaze with every mile of progress made.
The paddles dipped into the clear water, and the sunlight, falling on
the drops dripping from the blades, made each one resemble a glittering
diamond.
After their life spent on the muddy Missouri it was a great pleasure
to Dick and Roger to find themselves upon a stream where they could in
places look down for many feet, and see the stones on the bottom, so
transparent was the water.
As they floated along, waiting for the others to catch up with them,
the boys' favorite amusement was to lie still, and, looking over the
gunnel of their hide canoe, watch the small fishes darting to and fro;
or thrust a paddle at some clumsy turtle that had come up to see what
sort of object this floating log could be.
It was not always as pleasant as this, however, for one day they had a
downpour of rain that caused them to make hurriedly for the shore, and
get their tents up with as little delay as possible.
The storm continued all of the following day, and an unusual amount of
rain for that time of year descended. After that the water was not so
clear as before, the boys noticed. There were also places where they
discovered landslides had occurred, sections of the bank having slipped
into the rising river.
"It's a good thing we picked out a camp site where the ground was
firm," Roger observed, as they passed such a slide on the next day, and
saw what a terrible thing it had been.
Dick was ready to agree with what his companion said. He shrugged his
broad shoulders and shook his head.
"It would have proved a bad job for us, I take it, Roger, if we had
been camping on this spot. Think of having the ground slip from under
you while you sleep; and of awaking to find yourself struggling in the
river. Yes, we were lucky to be on firm ground while the rain lasted."
"The days keep passing along," mused Roger, "and so far I haven't been
able to take a single salmon. And only this morning I'm sure I saw one
jump out of the water after some sort of insect. If only I knew what
kind of fly it was I might be able to coax one of the big fish to come
to time."
"It is near the end of October, too," Dick remarked, "and any day now
Captain Lewis says he expects that we must reach the lower river."
"And, after that, all we have to do is to let the swift current carry
us along to the sea; eh, Dick?"
"Our only remaining danger will come from the Flat Head Indians who
live along the banks of the broad river. Then we must remember, you
know, Roger, that there is a great fall somewhere below us. The Nez
Perces Indians told us they make a noise like thunder when the water is
high, as it is after so much rain."
"Of course we must keep on the watch for the fall, Dick; I give you my
word for it, I have no desire to be carried over the brink in one of
these frail little hide canoes. It would be smashed on the rocks below,
and, as for us, we might not know what had happened."
"Just watch that fish hawk hovering over that place in the river,
meaning to snatch up his dinner when he gets ready. There's the
champion fisher for you, Roger. If that bird could only talk he could
tell you all about the habits of these wary salmon that so far you
haven't succeeded in catching."
"There he goes!" cried Roger, excitedly. "Oh! what a splash he made!
And, Dick, look at him trying to get up again! It's all he can do to
rise, beating his wings like a crazy thing. See the fish the fellow has
fastened his claws on, Dick. There goes a salmon, I do believe, the
very first we've seen!"
The big fish hawk was indeed having a hard battle trying to fly with
such a large fish in its talons. It fluttered its wings, and still
could not manage to get more than twenty feet above the water.
As it turned toward the bank, doubtless meaning that, if compelled to
release its hold on the glittering prize, the fish should fall upon
land where it could be eaten at leisure, Roger gave vent to another
exclamation.
"When it gets off the river I'm going to shout, and see if I can
frighten the hawk into letting that fish drop," he observed, eagerly.
"I'll join with you, then," agreed his chum.
A few seconds later, Roger made a signal with his paddle at which
both of them gave forth a startling yell. Surely enough, the sudden
discordant sound startled the fish hawk, and it immediately let its
prize go.
"There, it landed on the bank!" cried Roger. "Quick! let's paddle
ashore before it flops back into the river again. Oh! my first salmon
seems to be coming to me from the air after all!"
Reaching the bank, Roger sprang ashore, and presently came back,
carrying his capture by inserting a finger in the gill. It was indeed a
salmon, though only of a comparatively few pounds weight, and nothing
compared to myriads they were fated to see later on.
"Enough to make a supper for both the captains, and ourselves in the
bargain!" explained the triumphant Roger. "And I want to say that never
before did I pull in a fish from the air. That's a new way of doing it,
Dick. I'll never see an industrious fish hawk after this but that I'll
think of what happened to-day."
"If you hadn't secured the fish some robber eagle might," declared
Dick. "Many a time have I sat and watched one of those bald-headed
pirates, perched on a dead limb of a tree, too lazy to pounce down and
get a dinner for himself, and only waiting until a hawk flew off with
its prize, when, after the other bird, would start the eagle, and ten
times out of eleven he was bound to play the robber game."
"Yes," added Roger, "I've seen the poor hawk mount high in the air,
trying to escape; but with the eagle in hot pursuit. In the end the
fish would drop, and the eagle follow after it, snatching his dinner
from the air long before it could strike the earth; just as I can let a
stone fall, and then overtake it with my hand before it lands."
It was on the second day after this incident that the boys, who were
ahead of the others, were heard giving glad yells. The secret of all
this joy was soon made manifest, for they had really arrived at the
junction of the Lewis with the Columbia, as they immediately called the
majestic stream that, with a swift current, ran to the west, and flowed
out into the sea.
All their hopes, so long delayed, seemed now on the eve of realization;
and there were no despondent hearts in the camp when night again found
them.
It was with satisfaction that they looked out upon the noble stream,
in the belief that the confidence which President Jefferson had felt
in their ability to overcome all difficulties on the road had now been
justified.
It was just a day afterward that Roger found a chance to strike his
first salmon with the Indian spear. He and Dick had gone ashore at a
likely-looking spot where a small tributary entered the river. The
character of the ground emboldened Roger to believe he might run across
some of the places such as the Indians loved to frequent when fishing
after their peculiar style.
He found that he could creep along and look down upon the water five
or six feet below, where the shadows were dense, and the passage of a
silvery salmon would seem like a ray of sunlight.
Here the boy waited, crouching silently, just as he imagined the expert
Indian fish-spearers were wont to hang. And presently Dick, who was
watching close by, saw him make a furious jab with his spear. Following
this, Roger struggled desperately, and then dragged up a magnificent
fish, floundering at the end of the spear.
This he repeated twice more, when they had enough for the whole party.
That was certainly a red letter day in the life of Roger, and one he
was not likely soon to forget.
More days passed, and they were constantly descending the majestic
river, now unusually high on account of the recent heavy rains. Twice
they were compelled to cut short their day's trip in order to seek
shelter from a downpour; and, after such a recent experience of the dry
and arid strip of country stretching out toward the foot of the Rocky
Mountains, they hardly knew what to make of such weather.
There came a day when, ahead of them, they heard a dull sound that
thrilled every heart. The falls of the Columbia must be at hand, where
they would be compelled to make a portage with the canoes and their
cargoes.
Roger would have liked to strike out and be the first to get within
seeing distance of this natural wonder, but Dick curbed his impatience.
"Better hold back and keep near the rest," he advised. "We none of us
know anything about the falls, and from the Indians we've heard they
are very dangerous. They even claim that a bad spirit is chained under
the water, and always ready to overturn the canoe of any venturesome
brave who ventures too near."
The current was becoming furiously swift, and Captain Lewis, like the
wise leader he was, advised that all the boats make for the shore. It
required considerable sturdy work to effect this, for they had already
gone further down than discretion fully warranted.
All would have gone well except for an unfortunate accident. The paddle
which Roger was using had been cracked a little recently; indeed he had
just that morning discovered the flaw, and declared he must lose no
time in making a new one.
When Roger worked he did it with all his vim and energy; consequently
there was a greater strain on his paddle than would have been the case
had Dick, for instance, been handling it.
Feeling the savage pull of the fierce current the boy even put a little
extra strength into his labor, which was a hazardous thing to do,
considering the circumstances.
Dick, methodically handling his own blade, was suddenly thrilled to
hear his comrade give vent to a cry of dismay. As he looked up he saw
Roger holding the fragment of a paddle in his hands. The treacherous
blade had broken just at the most critical time possible. They were
held fast in the grip of a current which Dick, with his single paddle,
could never succeed in combatting; and just below them the roar of
the falls sounded, while they could see the foam-capped waves, that
announced the beginning of the rapids, just ahead of their drifting
canoe!