A RESCUE IN THE RAPIDS
The same thought seemed to awaken every one the next morning. All were
out early but they found Jack making the fire. He stated that they were
going to have some very fine biscuits that morning and so he was up
early. No one thought of him in connection with the extra dish of
prunes. The boys were soon on the water though they did not expect to
get the first salmon.
"Ye Heavens!" said Pud. "If one of those big salmon got on my line, I
wouldn't know what to do with it anyway. But all the same, I'm going to
have a try."
"Same here," said Bob. "I really would like to hook one because my
father has told me so much about salmon fishing that I'm anxious to see
if I can play one as he told me how to do it. He has caught salmon not
one hundred miles from here, you know."
"Yes, it's all very well for them to tell us how to do it," said Bill.
"I'll bet, though, that we make a botch of it when we get one."
They were soon separated by varying distances. Bob got three trout but
no salmon rose to his fly. Pud was down the stream and as Bob floated
by, he said,
"I don't believe there are any salmon here anyway. I've got four trout
but nary a salmon."
As if to rebuke his disbelief in the presence of salmon in that river, a
big fish leaped clear of the water and tore away with Pud's line. In a
moment, Pud was busy. He got so excited when he saw the wonderful fish
make another flying leap that he forgot that he was on a frail canoe
and over he went. Bob hurried to his rescue and Pud was soon in his boat
again. Pud had held on to the rod and when he got in the boat, he
started to reel in but he was due for a rude awakening, as he was nearly
yanked out of the canoe by a terrific rush from the fish.
"He's still on," yelled Pud.
"Give him line! Give him line! Now, careful. Reel in," yelled Bob.
Pud kept at it and for nearly an hour that fish kept him as busy as a
bee. At the end of that time, Pud drew the salmon gently towards the
canoe. Bob reached over to get him in the landing net when off he went
again. It took another good twenty minutes before he was finally landed.
Bob and Pud then paddled for the camp and reached there to find that Mr.
Waterman and Mr. Anderson were already there each with a fine specimen.
In a little while they all gathered around for breakfast when a big
surprise awaited them. Jack demurely brought on a fine baked salmon.
When this appeared, Mr. Waterman hurried over to the tent, lifted the
covering under which the three salmon he and Mr. Anderson had caught had
been placed, and there were still the three salmon.
"You old dog!" said Mr. Waterman. "When did you get that fish? I was up
pretty early myself but you must have had it still earlier, for you have
had plenty here to keep you busy since we got up."
Jack did not answer Mr. Waterman's question. Instead, he merely queried
in his quizzical way.
"Do I get them prunes?"
For answer, Mr. Waterman went over to the shelter made for the grub and
came back with a can filled with the succulent prune. Jack took them
with a merry twinkle in his eye.
"I don't think that I ought to take them," said he.
"Sure. Take them. I said that I'd give extra prunes to the man getting
the first salmon and you did the trick," said Mr. Waterman.
"That's all right, but I don't need them. Let me give them to the first
boy that gets a fish," said Jack.
"All right," said Mr. Waterman. "Then you'll have to give them to Pud,
for he was the only boy to land one."
Jack then came over to the table and with grave ceremony, he handed the
prunes to Pud. The latter did not want to take them but finally yielded.
They had a very merry breakfast and Jack at last told them that he had
gotten up about half past three and had hardly got out into the stream
before he had a fine salmon on his line. He had a merry battle with the
gamy fish but finally landed him and, hurrying back, he sneaked into
camp without being seen. After breakfast, the various members of the
party once more set out in quest of salmon, it being agreed that no one
would catch more than two.
When they reassembled at lunch, every one had at least one salmon. All
were happy as kings, especially the three boys, who had had one of their
ambitions realized in catching these wonderful game fish. They went
exploring in the afternoon. Mr. Waterman took the boys back from the
river into a part of the country that had been burned over. They made
for a rather high ridge merely to get the view, with Mr. Waterman
leading. As he topped the ridge, he was seen to sink suddenly to the
ground and then hurry back to them.
"Two fine bears up there," said Mr. Waterman in a whisper when he got
back to them.
"Where? Where?" exclaimed Pud.
"Just over the ridge. They're eating berries," said Mr. Waterman.
"Let's run," said Pud. "None of us has even a revolver."
"That's all right," replied Mr. Anderson. "Bears won't hurt you. Mr.
Waterman came back stealthily so that you could have a look at them. If
they scent us we shan't get within a mile of them. So be careful."
Pud held back but Bob hurried on with Mr. Waterman and Bill was close
behind. They very quietly got to the top of the ridge and both of the
boys had a very good view of the two black bears that were busily
engaged eating the raspberries that grew very luxuriantly there in the
bare spots left by the ravages of the fire. Mr. Waterman had just begun
to explain to them what very timid creatures they were when Pud came up,
and falling over a root crashed down, making a terrific racket. In a
moment the bears were gone. They seemed to vanish. They seemed
instinctively to keep in line with big rocks or trees so that even the
lynx-eyed Mr. Waterman had great trouble in following their course. The
boys did not see them again.
"You big boob!" said Bill. "What's the matter with you?"
"I didn't mean to do it, honest to goodness," replied Pud. "But were
there really any bear here or were you stringing me as usual?"
"Of course there was a bear here," said Bob. "But a big elephant came
along and scared them away. I don't wonder they took to their heels when
they heard the noise you made. You'd make a fine Indian scout. You had
better walk behind Jean and note how noiselessly he moves along."
"I'm sorry," said Pud.
The party then turned away after looking over the country from their
high point of vantage. They could see far and wide and for miles the
great forest fire had left only blackened stumps and dead trees. They
got back to camp in time for supper. Joe had had time to get out and as
he had returned with five partridges, they had another great supper.
"They told me when I wanted to come up here," said Bob, "that if I
wanted to live on bacon, prunes, hard dough, and beans all summer that
this was the place to come."
"Yes, that is what they generally expect to get on such trips as this,
but with just a little luck and a good cook like Jack, the least thing
to be objected to is the 'eats,'" said Mr. Anderson.
"I should think so," replied Bob. "I don't know that I have ever enjoyed
my meals so much as up here."
"The same here," piped in Pud. "I think we get almost too good grub,
that is as far as I am concerned, for I want to reduce and I have a
swell chance to do that with partridge and trout, one night, salmon for
breakfast, and salmon, trout, and duck for supper."
"Yes," said Mr. Waterman. "We've been unusually lucky this summer."
After supper, they went for a paddle up the stream, going up for nearly
three miles until they came to another rapid. Bob and Bill were in one
canoe and Pud and Mr. Anderson in another. They went up the rapid as far
as they could paddle and then swung around and came racing back. When
they came to the quiet part of the river again, Bob said,
"That's great fun. I bet we have some excitement to-morrow when we go
down the river to a point opposite Lac Parent."
"I guess we'll enjoy it all right. I pity Pud if he gets in the drink,"
said Bill.
The next morning, the guides and their two leaders took the greatest
precautions in binding up the duffle bags and the grub. Everything was
folded so that even though they might be capsized, there would be little
risk of their kits and grub.
"You are making preparations as if you expect trouble," said Bob to Mr.
Waterman.
"Not especially," was the reply. "It is always best to be ready for
anything in fast water. A broken paddle, just a mistake in judgment, may
spell disaster. However, I think you'll enjoy it this morning. The river
has some fast water all right but it is not very deep and though we may
get wet, there will not be much real danger."
"How are we going to pair off?" asked Bob.
"Jack will take Pud. Joe will pair with Bill, you will come with me and
Jean and Mr. Anderson will make up the party."
They were soon off, with Mr. Waterman and Bob leading. They had quite a
stretch of slow water first and the boys were given their directions
then.
"The main thing about getting through fast water is not to lose your
nerve," said Mr. Waterman. "Next you must have confidence in your
steersman and do what he tells you just as soon as he tells you."
"That's what I'm here for," said Bob, in his position up in the bow.
They soon swung into the rapids and it was exhilarating fun at first.
Then Bob's heart came up into his throat for a minute as he looked ahead
and could see only a smother of foam. Mr. Waterman steered straight for
what seemed the worst part of it. In another moment they were in it and
Bob thought that the canoe would never rise to the wall of water ahead.
But it did. In a second, they were shooting down with Bob paddling for
dear life trying as best he could to follow the calm directions of Mr.
Waterman. The very speedy part of the descent lasted only a few minutes,
but it was very exciting. Then they swung once more into the calm waters
of the broad reaches of the river.
"Did we cover those two miles that took us over an hour to do the other
day when we were portaging up?" asked Bob.
"That we did," said Mr. Waterman. "We did it very well. After a few
trips of this kind, you will qualify as an expert canoeist."
"That's very kind of you to say so," replied Bob. "I know though that if
I had hit that water with Pud or Bill that we would have been swimming
long before now."
"Well, it does help to have an old stager like me in the back end of the
canoe," said Mr. Waterman with quiet satisfaction. "To tell the truth,
that is really an easy stretch of water. If you ever go through some of
the rapids on the Shipshaw River or some of the larger rivers of this
country, you will know what fast water really means. I went down the
Shipshaw three years ago with Pierre and there were times when the
slightest mistake would have meant death almost surely."
"I'd like to try that sometime," said Bob.
"You may think so, but really it is a foolhardy proposition unless you
have very clever guides with you," replied Mr. Waterman.
"That's some sport," said Bill, as his canoe came abreast of theirs.
"I had my troubles," said Jack. "This young baby elephant up in the bow
is too heavy and makes the canoe very hard to steer."
"That's right," said Mr. Waterman. "Suppose, before we reach the next
rapids, that you get out a moment, shift some of the load up into the
bow and have Pud sit back of the first thwart. That will balance the
canoe better."
"That's a good idea," said Jack. "I'll do it."
"Why so quiet?" asked Bob of Pud as he looked across.
"Now don't kid me," said Pud. "I really thought three or four times that
I'd be swimming down those rapids a mile a minute, but Jack brought me
through all right. I'll give him all the credit."
"Don't you believe it," said Jack. "He did fine. He obeyed orders, but
his weight in the bow made it very hard and I wouldn't want to try it
over again."
A little later, Pud and Jack went ashore and fixed the cargo so that the
canoe would not be down at the bow. Then they were off again. Once more
they shot down through foam and spray, just missing rocks by a fraction
of an inch. It proved the greatest sport that the boys had ever tried.
They grew enthusiastic.
"Now, it's all right to like fast water," said Jack, "but don't let that
make you careless. You can never afford to be careless even in rather
easy water. If you do, you'll come a cropper sure."
They paddled on and went down three or four more easy rapids. By this
time the boys commenced to think that they knew quite a little about how
to take fast water. As they went along, Mr. Waterman warned them that
they were now coming to a rather hard place but that it was very short.
In another moment they were in it. Bob and his teacher went through like
a breeze. Under the master hand of Mr. Waterman, the speedy descent of
the waters was made without dipping a drop into the canoe. As they came
down into the smooth reach at the foot of the rapids, Mr. Waterman
turned the canoe around, saying,
"Let's watch the others come down this last bit. It certainly looks
exciting but while you're in it you have little time to think of the
exciting features."
Just then Mr. Anderson and Jean came into view. They seemed poised
almost on the brink of a cascade but the canoe came rushing down like a
bird. At times, it seemed buried in the spray but it emerged triumphant
at the foot. They also turned around to watch the others. Pud and Jack
were next. Jack made it seem so easy that the boys were amazed at the
deftness with which he steered the boat. At one spot, by a peculiar
wrist motion known only to the initiated, he made the boat move bodily
over to the right just in time to miss a big rock that seemed sure to be
their Waterloo. It now remained only for Joe and Bill to come safely
through. Under the influence of the eddies, Mr. Waterman and Bob had
floated up almost to the very foot of the rapids. This was the big
factor in what followed.
Jack and Bill hove in sight and down they rushed. Just before they
struck the bad part of the rapids, Bill was seen to hold up his paddle
broken short off at the handle. He turned around to snatch up the extra
paddle but in doing so he was too hasty and in another moment, the canoe
was caught by a swell and overturned. Anxiously the party at the foot of
the rapids watched for the heads of Joe and Bill. Joe came up and was
seen to make frantic efforts to get back to the canoe, but he was swept
on. Bill did not appear. Bob was out of his canoe and out on the bank
before any one even thought of stopping him. In another moment, he was
running up the trail that ran alongside the river. A minute later he was
out on the rocks above where the overturned canoe was now seen to be
jammed between the rocks. A moment later, he plunged into the foaming
rapids and fortunately drifted down right on the canoe. When he came
there he had the greatest difficulty in not being swept over the canoe.
Frantically he clung to the canoe, now finding himself helpless to save
Bill, who was partly pinned under the canoe and was rapidly drowning
right before his eyes.
Bills eyes were turning glassy, Bob thought, as he made a final effort
to get the canoe free. He succeeded in doing this, but not as he
expected, for his weight and the weight of the water as it swept along
crumpled up the canoe and suddenly he found himself rushing down the
rapids just like a wisp of straw on a miniature stream such as little
boys sometimes make in the gutters. All at once he felt Bill's body bump
him and instinctively he grabbed it and though bruised in a hundred
places, he finally shot out at the foot of the rapids still clutching
Bill's limp form. Bob was himself practically unconscious, but struggled
to keep himself and Bill afloat as if under some superpower.
A moment later, the others were there and they soon had Bob and Bill out
on the bank. Bill was far gone, as he not only had been half drowned
when pinned under the canoe but he had knocked his head against the
rocks in the latter part of his descent. First aid was given to him
first. He was stretched out over a log and then his arms were worked to
get the air back into his lungs. In about five minutes, Bill opened his
eyes and with a big sigh closed them again. A few minutes later he was
sitting up, still in rather a dazed condition, but fast recovering. Bob
had received quite a cut on his head, but he had not actually lost
consciousness and he fast recuperated. He was up and about in a little
while, apparently none the worse for his strenuous exertions.
"That was a close call," said Mr. Waterman.
"I should think so," said Pud. "When I saw Bob plunge into those rapids,
I thought he was a fool, for I could not see how he could do anything."
"He saved my life all right," said Bill. "I was pinned under that canoe
and was nearly drowned when Bob got there. I didn't get get this bump on
the head until afterwards. I saw Bob come, but I was so nearly all in
that I could only struggle faintly to get a breath of air now and then.
When the canoe suddenly broke in two, I shot down and I must have hit a
rock for I knew nothing more until I woke up on the bank."
"You deserve a great deal of credit, Bob," said Mr. Anderson, "not only
for your heroism but for the quick presence of mind you showed in doing
the only thing that had a chance of saving Bill's life."
"You beat me to it all right," said Mr. Waterman. "The way you got out
of that canoe and up that trail would have made me look like a snail so
I stayed at the foot hoping to be of use there. I thought that Bill
might appear any moment at the foot of the rapids as I could not see
that he was pinned down by the canoe."
"I'm certainly glad you were there," said Bob, "for I would never have
gotten Bill ashore by myself. I certainly was all in. I was not
unconscious but I had big black spots before my eyes and I guess I was
just about ready to pass out."
"Well, it's all over and we're very lucky," said Mr. Waterman. "We'll
camp right here for the night and go on our way to-morrow morning. We
can get back to camp all right even if a little later than we had
planned."
In the meantime, Joe had come down the rapids unhurt and crawled into
Jean's boat as if nothing out of the ordinary had occurred. While the
others were bringing Bob and Bill back to the world, he and Jean set out
after the broken canoe and captured it. Owing to the great care with
which their duffle bags had been made up that morning, nothing was
really injured. Bill and Bob did not have much appetite for supper that
evening as both were suffering more from shock than they recognized. In
the morning, Mr. Waterman let them sleep until the last call for
breakfast. After a swim, they were both just about as good as ever.
"How are we going to get everything into the canoes this morning?" asked
Pud.
"What's that?" asked Mr. Waterman in turn.
"We had the canoes pretty well filled yesterday," said Pud. "With one
less canoe, we'll have to shift things around, won't we?"
"Who said that we had one less canoe?" asked Mr. Waterman quietly. Pud
looked to the bank of the stream and sure enough, there were four canoes
there.
"Where did we get the extra canoe?" asked Pud puzzled.
"We didn't get it any place," replied Mr. Anderson. "Joe and Jean were
up real early this morning and they fixed the one that seemed such a
wreck last evening."
Pud went over to the canoes and sure enough, he saw where the canoe had
been patched up.
"This isn't a very good job," said Mr. Waterman. "When we get back to
camp, they will take out those broken ribs and replace them entirely
instead of splicing them up as they have done. It will do all right
until we get home but when Joe really gets through with that canoe,
there won't be a sign of that smash-up."
"He's certainly clever," said Bill.
"Yes, he is in one sense, though in another he is just using the
knowledge that he has acquired in years in the woods," said Mr.
Anderson.
"Pierre, Jean, Joe or Jack can all build a very good canoe as they have
often done so," said Mr. Waterman.
"Can Pierre make a birch bark canoe just like the Indians used to have?"
asked Bob.
"Nothing easier," replied Mr. Anderson.
"I'll get him to make me one ofter camp is over and send it down to me
in Virginia," said Bob.
"He'll be very glad to do it," said Mr. Waterman.
After a good breakfast, they were on their way. It was a credit to the
real courage of Bob and Bill that though they had to go down three
rapids before they came to the ford near Lac Parent, that neither of
them showed any sign of the white feather. Both boys seemed to enjoy the
exciting sport just as much as before the almost fatal accident of the
previous day. On arrival at the ford, they found Pierre there.
Two hours later, they were back at their home camp and settled in their
shelter tents. That night around the camp fire they went over the events
of the week and concluded that they had had more fun and excitement
crowded into that week than they had had in any other similar space of
time during their lives. They all went to bed glad to-morrow was the
Sabbath and that they could just laze around and enjoy the comparative
comforts of their home camp.