swiftly where they were,
and they soon found that all their efforts were not sufficient to stem
the current. The boat was carried round and round in every direction,
excepting up the stream. In fact the current was rapidly acquiring the
entire mastery over them, and hurrying them down to a point where the
water poured on in a furious torrent through a long narrow passage
between beds of stone and gravel.

"Pull, boys, pull!" said Marco; "we shall go down over the rips in
spite of every thing."

The boys did pull, but they could effect nothing. The water was
sweeping them along with great rapidity, notwithstanding all their
struggles. Finally, when they found that they could not make head
against it, so as to go up the stream, they concluded to pull for the
shore. They were not in any great fear, for the river was very narrow
and not more than knee deep in the rapids, so that there was no real
danger of any calamity greater than getting well wet. They seemed to
be also in a fair way to escape this, for they found that they could
make some progress in getting their boat toward the shore. But, just
as they began to think their object was about to be accomplished, they
were arrested by a sudden mishap. It happened that there was a little
snag in the river, nearly in the direction in which they were going.
It was the end of a small log, which rose almost to the surface of the
water. The greater part of the log was firmly imbedded in the sand,
but there was a small portion of it which projected so far as barely
to be submerged. The boys did not notice this, and, in their eagerness
to run the boat ashore, it happened that they were running it across
the current, just above this snag. But as the current was sweeping
them down the stream at the same time that they were pushing
themselves across it, it carried the boat with great force against
this snag. The bottom of the boat was confined by it, while the force
of the current, still pressing upon the side, overset it in a moment,
and threw all the boys out into the water.

The boys scrambled out without much difficulty, and stood upon the
gravelly beach. They saw at the same moment a man on the bank of the
river above, who looked as if he was about to run to their aid; but
when he saw that they were safe, he turned around immediately and
disappeared. An instant afterward, Marco, finding that his cap was not
upon his head, looked around for it, and, to his dismay, he saw it
f