plopping roundly
into the surface of the river; each drop with its attendant sprite
leaping at its approach. One shower followed another, with intervals
of hot and sticky sunshine between. It was more uncomfortable under
the steamy, dripping bushes than in the thick of it; and they finally
decided to paddle ahead, let it rain as it would. Luncheon, consisting
of soaked bannock and cold cocoa, was a sorry affair.

Garth was glum. He had long apprehended that bad weather would treble
their difficulties. "How can I keep her warm and dry throughout the
night?" was his ever-present thought. Natalie, on the other hand, was as
happy as a lark; and she made a very attractive picture in the rain. Her
dress had altered little by little during the last few days; and now
comprised a blue sweater, short skirt and moccasins. The hat with the
green wings was safely wrapped in the duffle-bag; and hitherto she had
gone bareheaded on the river. When it began to rain she pulled a man's
cap close over her head to keep her hair dry. As she industriously plied
her paddle in the bow, ever and anon turning a rosy, streaming face to
him, with a joke on her lips, in her rough get-up poor Garth thought her
lovelier than ever. He was continually having to call himself down, as
he would have said, for presuming to think he had measured the extent
of her charm.

"Isn't it bully, Garth!" once she cried. "Ever since I was a baby I have
longed to be allowed to play in the rain for just once, and get as wet
as I possibly could--just to see how it felt! And now I shall! Isn't it
funny just to sit and let it come down, without running anywhere? Women
are babies, anyway. I mean never to put up an umbrella again as long as
I live. The rain feels good in my face!"

Nevertheless, Garth, occupied as he was with the problems of how to find
a dry place to put up the tent, and how to build a fire in a downpour,
was anxious. Little by little the showers merged into each other; and
before the end of the afternoon, it had settled down to rain steadily
all night.

He learned in the end never to trust the distances given in an
unmeasured land. Rounding one of the endless bends toward five o'clock,
they became aware of a new, indefinable, fresher smell on the air; and
they increased their pace with an eager sense of a discovery awaiting
them in the next vista. The next point proved to be the last; looking
around it, the wind buffeted their faces fresh and cool; th