which, as we got a little way on,
blew out with the breeze. He and I then plied the paddles. We appeared
to be making fair progress, too, although the raft moved but slowly.
But the wind soon dying away, we had our paddles alone to depend on.
Manley tried to scull with the oar, but he was not an adept at the art,
and it did not help us much. When we watched the shore we had left, we
saw that we had made some progress; but when we looked ahead towards the
side of the lake we wished to reach, it appeared no nearer than when we
stood on the shore we had left, while the mountains rose towering up
above our heads as gigantic as ever. The sun had already disappeared
beyond the pine-clad heights to the west, leaving the valley in rapidly
increasing shade.

"I doubt, Ralph, whether we shall set foot on shore much before
midnight, unless we move at a faster rate than we are now doing," said
Manley.

I agreed with him; observing, however, that a moonlight voyage on that
calm lake would be pleasant in the extreme, and a thing to be
remembered.

Not expecting to be so long on the raft, and intending to have supper on
our arrival, we grew very hungry. Fortunately we had plenty of cooked
provisions, and fresh water alongside, so that we had no difficulty in
satisfying our appetites.

While the sergeant was engaged in again doing up the pack, a sudden
squall struck our sail, carrying away the mast, and had I not sprung up
and seized hold of it, the blanket would have been lost. Fortunately I
caught it before it was wet. This squall was quickly followed by
another, and we could see the white-topped waves curling up around us on
all sides. Our raft was but ill calculated to buffet with a tempest
such as seemed but too likely to come on. The wind being as yet
favourable, however, the sergeant attempted to repair the mast and
re-hoist the sail; but scarcely had he done so when it was again carried
away.

"We must trust to our paddles, and the wind will still drive us along,"
said Manley.

We could hear the wind roaring among the trees on the shore, and every
instant it increased, raising up big waves which threatened to sweep
over us. The raft was tossed and tumbled about, and sometimes it was
with difficulty we could hold on sufficiently to prevent ourselves from
being shaken off into the seething water. We had, fortunately, at the
suggestion of the sergeant, secured our rifles and knapsacks to the top
of the platfor