l powers, and it was apparent that he grew rapidly frailer,
physically.

On this particular morning Geoffrey found something very soothing in
the river's song, and, yielding to temptation, he turned his head from
the growing light to indulge in another half-hour's slumber. Suddenly,
a discordant note, jarring through the deep-toned harmonies, struck his
ears, which were quick to distinguish between the bass roar of the
canyon and the higher-pitched calling of the rapid at its entrance.
What had caused it he could not tell. He dressed with greatest haste
and was striding down into the camp when Mattawa Tom and Gillow came
running towards him.

"Sluice number six has busted, and the water's going in over Hudson's
ranch," shouted Tom. "I've started all the men there's room for
heaving dirt in, but the river's going through in spite of them."

Geoffrey asked no questions, but ran at full speed through the camp,
shouting orders as he went, and presently stood breathless upon a tall
bank of raw red earth. On one side the green-stained river went
frothing past; on the other a muddy flood spouted through a breach, and
already a shallow lake was spreading fast across the cleared land,
licking up long rows of potato haulm and timothy grass. Men swarmed
like bees about the sloping side of the bank, hurling down earth and
shingle into the aperture, but a few moments' inspection convinced
Geoffrey that more heroic measures were needed and that they labored in
vain. Raising his hand, he called to the men to stop work and, when
the clatter of shovels ceased, he quietly surveyed the few poor fields
rancher Hudson had won from the swamp. His lips were pressed tight
together, and his expression showed his deep concern.

"There's only one thing to be done. Open two more sluice gates, Tom,"
he commanded.

"You'll drown out the whole clearing," ventured the foreman, and
Geoffrey nodded.

"Exactly! Can't you see the river will tear all this part of the dyke
away unless we equalize the pressure on both sides of it? Go ahead at
once and get it done."

The man from Mattawa wondered at the bold order, but his master
demanded swift obedience and he proceeded to execute it, while Geoffrey
stood fast watching two more huge sheets of froth leap out. He knew
that very shortly rancher Hudson's low-level possessions would be
buried under several feet of water.

"It's done, sir, and a blamed bad job it is!" said the foreman,
return