stern, to control the movements of the boat.

For a few seconds there was deep silence. The men held their breath as
the boat leaped along with the boiling flood. There was a curling white
wave at the foot of the fall. The boat cut through this like a knife,
drenching her crew with spray. Next moment she swept round into the
eddy where the canoe was floating, and the men gave vent to a loud cheer
of satisfaction at having run the fall in safety.

But this was not the end of that exciting scene. Scarcely had they
gained the land, when another boat appeared on the crest of the fall.
Again a shout was given and a dash made. For one moment there was a
struggle with the raging flood, and then a loud cheer as the second boat
swept into the eddy in safety. Then a third and a fourth boat went
through the same operation, and before the end of a quarter of an hour,
six boats ran the fall. The bay at the foot of it, which had been so
quiet and solitary when Jasper and his friends arrived, became the scene
of the wildest confusion and noise, as the men ran about with tremendous
activity, making preparations to spend the night there.

Some hauled might and main at the boats; some carried up the provisions,
frying-pans, and kettles; others cut down dry trees with their axes, and
cut them up into logs from five to six feet long, and as thick as a
man's thigh. These were intended for six great fires, each boat's crew
requiring a fire to themselves.

While this was going on, the principal guides and steersmen crowded
round our three travellers, and plied them with questions; for it was so
unusual to meet with strangers in that far-off wilderness, that a chance
meeting of this kind was regarded as quite an important event.

"You're bound for York Fort, no doubt," said Jasper, addressing a tall
handsome man of between forty and fifty, who was the principal guide.

"Ay, that's the end of our journey. You see we're taking our furs down
to the coast. Have you come from York Fort, friend!"

"No, I've come all the way from Canada," said Jasper, who thereupon gave
them a short account of his voyage.

"Well, Jasper, you'll spend the night with us, won't you?" said the
guide.

"That will I, right gladly."

"Come, then, I see the fires are beginning to burn. We may as well have
a pipe and a chat while supper is getting ready."

The night was now closing in, and the scene in the forest, when the
camp-fires began to blaze, wa