g wave broke into her, and in another moment
Nasmyth was in the water. He was dragged down by the swirling stream, and
when he rose he dimly saw the canoe a few yards in front of him. He
failed to reach her--she was traveling faster than he was--and, though he
could swim well, he grew horribly afraid. It struck him that there was a
strong probability of his being driven against a boulder with force
enough to break his bones or of being drawn down and battered against the
stony bottom. Still, he struck out for a line of leaping froth between
him and the bank and was nearing it when Lisle grasped his shoulder and
thrust him straight down-stream. Scarcely able to see amid the turmoil,
confused and bewildered, he nevertheless realized that it was not
desirable to attempt a landing where he had intended. Yielding to the
guiding impulse, he floundered down-stream, until Lisle again seized him
and drove him shoreward, and a few moments later he stood up, breathless,
in a few feet of slacker water. He waded to the bank, and then turned to
Lisle, who was close behind.

"Thanks," he gasped. "I owe you something for that."

"Pshaw!" disclaimed the other. "I only pulled you back. You'd have got
badly hammered if you'd tried to cross that ledge. I'd noticed the
inshore swirl close below it when we were packing along the bank, and
remembered that we could land in it."

"But you had hold of the canoe. I saw you close beside her."

"I only wanted her to take me past the ledge," Lisle explained. "I'd no
notion of going right through with her. Now we'll make for camp."

On arriving there as darkness closed down, they found that Jake had
recovered the craft. The paddles had gone, but he could make another pair
in an hour or two. They had a few dry things to put on, and as they lay
beside the fire after supper they were sensible that the slight
constraint both had felt for the last two days had vanished. Neither
would have alluded to the feeling which had replaced it, nor, indeed,
could have clearly expressed his thoughts, but mutual liking, respect and
confidence had suddenly changed to something stronger. During the few
minutes they spent in the water a bond, indefinite, indescribable, but
not to be broken, had been forged between the two.

The next morning it was clear and cold, and they made good progress until
they landed late in the afternoon. Then, after scrambling some distance
over loose gravel, Lisle and Nasmyth stopped besi