e rapids.

"Mon Dieu!" cried Duprez, dancing in his excitement from one foot to
the other. "A droit! a droit! Non! Don' try for go hup! Come out on de
heddy!"

The doctor did not hear him, but, realizing the hopelessness of the
frontal attack upon the rapid, he steered his canoe toward the eddy and
gradually edged her into the quiet water.

"You come ver' close on de fall, mon gar'!" cried Duprez, as the doctor
paddled slowly up the edge past him. "You bes' pass on de portage. Not
many mans go hup on de rapids comme ca."

"All right, Duprez. I hit her too hard, that's all."

Once more the doctor moved toward the riffle. He had done the thing
before and he was not to be beaten now. As the eddy bore him toward the
swift water again he carefully gauged the angle of attack, so that
when the nose of the canoe entered the riffle, with the trick that all
canoemen know, he held her up firm against the water, and, with no very
great effort, but by skilful manipulations of the force of the current,
he shoved her gradually across the riffle into the slow water near
the farther bank, and with a triumphant wave of the paddle disappeared
around the bend.

"He's good man," said Duprez to Ben Fallows, who had taken all this
time to recover from the shock of Barney's sudden appearance. "But de
preechere, he's go hup dat rapide lak one oiseau las' night."

"Did, eh?" answered Ben. "Well, he didn't put in three summers on the
Mattawa fer nothin'. He's a bird in the canoe, an' so's his bro--that
is--the doctor there. Wonder if he'll catch him!" Ben was much excited.

"Mebbe. He's cache heem comin' down, for sure!"

Meanwhile the doctor paddled on with steady, swinging stroke, taking
advantage of every eddy and cross current, stealing along the bank under
the overhanging trees, sidling across swift water, lifting his canoe
over rocky bits, till near mid-day he found himself at the portage below
the Long Rapid.

"Guess I'll camp on the other side," he said, talking aloud after
the manner of men who live much alone. He adjusted his paddles on the
thwarts, hooked his tea pail to his belt, shouldered his canoe, and,
taking his blanket pack in his hand, made the half mile portage without
a "set down."

"There," he said, setting his canoe carefully on the grass, "my legs are
better than my arms. Now we'll grub." He unpacked his tea pail, cut his
bacon into strips preparatory to toasting, built a fire, drew a pail of
water, threw in