brother clasped it. Five
minutes later she stood looking down on her father's closed eyes,
listening to the easy breathing of the man in the bed.

On the floor at her feet lay the pack which she meant to take with her,
a rifle leaned against a chair and a pistol was slung in a holster
under her left arm-pit--Alexander was accountred for her venture.

Brent watched her swinging down the slope with an easy, space-devouring
stride. He had begun to think she would be too late; more than half to
hope she would be too late. If she arrived on time there was, of
course, no turning back. It should be recorded to his credit that no
man had guessed at his inner trepidation. But the sullen swell of the
thundering waters had beaten not only on his ears but on his heart as
well--and dread had settled over him like a pall.

Immeasurable power was lashing itself into a merciless fury. Boundless
might was loosening into frenzy. He had seen the misshapen wreckage of
houses and barns ride by, bobbing like bits of cork. He had seen the
swirl of foam that was like the froth of a vast hydrophobia.

The men who had volunteered stood braced and ready at the long sweeps
with which, fore and aft, they would seek to hold the course.

Alexander leaped from the shore to the last of the three rafts, and
looked about her. Perhaps she had no eye just now for a thing that
Brent had noted as significant; the gleam in the eyes that bent upon
her arrival.

"Does ye aim ter ride with us, Mr. Brent?" she inquired and when he
nodded his assent she said deliberately: "Ye comes from ther city--an'
this hyar's liable ter be a rough trip. I reckon I ought ter warn ye
whilst thar's still time ter turn back. We've got ter go out on a
whirl-pool betwixt them walls of rock an' thar may not be nothin' left
but kindlin' wood."

"Thank you," was the somewhat curt response. "I'm taking no greater
chances than the rest of you."

No longer was it possible to hope that the dam would hold against the
rising crescendo of that battering from beyond and the insidious
tongues that licked at its foundations.

It was now only a matter of time, and the hour which followed was a
period of dire suspense. Through small breaks already gushed minor
cataracts--all growing. No man offered to turn aside but some had
recourse to the steadying influence of the pocket flask. Between the
gorge's sides they had swift glimpses of racing flotsam that had
yesterday bee