ed down the stream at a rapid rate. They were farther out than
the keel-boat had been; and the rushing water, lifted into waves by its
own force, began to tumble about as it would have done in the wilder
rapids of Niagara.

None of the four were skilful boatmen, and there seemed to be no one in
particular in the skiff to take the lead. As usually happens on such
occasions, the two men without paddles were frightened, and stood up,
which was the worst possible thing they could do. The two who were
managing the boat did not agree as to the method of handling it, and
each wanted his own way of doing it. Each of them was sure he could do
it, and that the other could not.

The couple with the paddles could not use them; and the skiff whirled
as it mounted the waves, and then it heeled over from one side to the
other. The two men who were standing up jumped from one side to the
other; then one of them lost his balance, and tumbled overboard. The
second tried to save him, and one of the two with the paddles went to
his assistance, the result of this, throwing the weight nearly over on
one side, capsized the boat, and the next instant all four of them were
floundering in the uneasy tide.

"De boat done tip over!" exclaimed Cuffy, as though his companions on
the bluff could not see for themselves what had happened.

"Perhaps we can save the men!" said Deck, as he rose from the ground
and ran with all his might to the path leading down to the landing of
the ferry, closely followed by the sergeant.

"Sabe de boat!" shouted Cuffy, trying to keep up with them, though he
soon fell far behind them.

The lieutenant was first to reach the foot of the path, and saw the
four unfortunates whirling through the agitated current, directly
towards the bluff where the keel-boat had been thrown on the flat. They
were too far out for him to reach them, and he could do nothing. It was
plain that not one of them could swim, and if they had been able to do
so at all they could have done nothing in the boiling flow of the rapid
current. They were swept down the stream, and being farther out from
the shore than the other boat had been they were not dashed upon the
flat.

Deck and Fronklyn watched them till they disappeared behind the bend,
though one was seen to go down before he reached it, and the others
must soon have followed him. The skiff had gone on ahead of them, and
was the first to pass beyond the view of the observers. The lieutenan