at the rapids are actually reached,
he stands a very fair chance of accomplishing the run in safety,
although even then he must be continually on the alert, since the turns
are often so sharp that, unless taken at precisely the right moment, the
canoe may be dashed with destructive violence against an obstructing
rock; and it was the part of the bowman, or pilot, to look out for such
rocks and bear the canoe off them with the long pole which he invariably
wielded.

At length Dick believed he saw the beginning of such a channel, close
under the right bank of the river, and waved Vilcamapata to steer the
canoe toward it. Half a minute more, and the little craft had darted in
between two formidable walls of leaping water and was speeding downward
at a speed of fully fifteen miles an hour, with Dick and Phil standing
upright and thrusting their long poles first to one side and then the
other as Chichester's experienced eye detected the signs which mark the
presence of dangerous rocks to right or left, and signalled accordingly.
To cry out was utterly useless, the roar and hiss of the tortured
waters was far too loud to render even the voice of a Stentor audible,
and those behind the pilot could but watch his motions, and act
accordingly.

Two minutes of strenuous labour brought them to the bend in the river,
and this, Dick knew, would be one of the most critical points in the
whole run; for it is difficult enough to follow the turns of the
channel, even when the course of the river is straight, but when the
river as well as the channel bends it is difficult indeed to avoid
disaster. Still, Dick remained perfectly cool and self-possessed; the
certainty and success with which he had piloted the canoe through that
unknown half-mile of chaotic leaping and rushing water had given him
more confidence in himself than all the rest of his experience put
together, and he felt that unless something quite unexpected and out of
the common happened, there was no reason why they should not accomplish
the remainder of the run in safety. He held up his hand as a warning to
those behind him to be extra vigilant, for they were at what was
probably the most dangerous point of the run, and the next instant waved
to the Peruvian to swerve the canoe powerfully to the left. The Indian
obeyed, to the best of his ability; but he was old, his strength was
nothing like what it had been, and the little craft did not swerve quite
smartly enough to