st of the laboring craft.

It was a wild, desolate spot in which we were, a mere rift in the
bluffs, which seemed to overhang us, covered with a heavy growth of
forest. The sun was still an hour high, although it was twilight
already beside the river, when Cassion, and his men came straggling
back, to report that the canoe had made safe passage, and, taking
advantage of his good humor, I proposed a climb up an opening of the
bluff, down which led a deer trail plainly discernible.

"Not I," he said, casting a glance upward. "The run over the rocks
will do me for exercise tonight."

"Then will I assay it alone," I replied, not displeased at his
refusal. "I am cramped from sitting in the canoe so long."

"'Twill be a hard climb, and they tell me the _pere_ has strained a
tendon of his leg coming ashore."

"And what of that!" I burst forth, giving vent to my indignation. "Am
I a ten-year-old to be guarded every step I take? 'Tis not far to the
summit, and no danger. You can see yourself the trail is not steep.
Faith! I will go now, just to show that I am at liberty."

He laughed, an unpleasant sound to it, yet made no effort to halt me.
'Tis probable he felt safe enough with De Artigny camped above the
rapids, and he had learned already that my temper might become
dangerous. Yet he stood and watched while I was half-way up before
turning away, satisfied no doubt that I would make it safely. It was
like a draught of wine to me to be alone again; I cannot describe the
sense of freedom, and relief I felt when a spur of the cliff shut out
all view of the scene below.

The rude path I followed was narrow, but not steep enough to prove
wearisome, and, as it led up through a crevice in the earth, finally
emerged at the top of the bluff at a considerable distance above the
camp I had left. Thick woods covered the crest, although there were
open plains beyond, and I was obliged to advance to the very edge in
order to gain glimpse of the river.

Once there, however, with footing secure on a flat rock, the scene
outspread was one of wild and fascinating beauty. Directly below me
were the rapids, rock strewn, the white spray leaping high in air, the
swift, green water swirling past in tremendous volume. It scarcely
seemed as though boats could live in that smother, or find passage
between those jutting rocks, yet as I gazed more closely, I could
trace the channel close in against the opposite shore, and note where
the swift c