ould swing her
round and next moment they would be in the water.

In the meantime, he was conscious of a curious, fierce excitement, but
had braved danger too often to indulge the feeling. It led to hot
rashness, and judgment and quick but calm decision were needed now. He
must concentrate all the power of his mind as well as the strength of
his body on taking the canoe down to the tail-pool.

She shipped some water on the way and they could not bail. It washed
about their knees as the frail craft plunged, and Thirlwell wondered
anxiously how much she would carry without capsizing. The rocks and
pines ashore now streamed past, blurred and indistinct, but he had
seldom an opportunity for glancing at the bank. He must look ahead, and
every now and then his view was shortened by a ridge of tumbling foam.

Somehow she came through, half-swamped, and swung down the savage
fan-shaped rush that spread in white turmoil across the tail-pool.
Paddling hard, they drove her out of the eddies that circled along the
bank, and finding a slack, ran her on to a shingle beach. Then they sat
down, wet and exhausted, to recover breath. Driscoll helped to pull the
canoe up, but when Thirlwell presently looked about he could not see
him.

"He's gone," Scott remarked dryly. "Lit out while you were taking off
your boots."

Thirlwell imagined that the roar of the river had drowned the fellow's
steps, but he did not want to talk, about Driscoll yet, and when he put
on his boots, which had been full of water, they started for the shack.
After they had changed their clothes Scott sat down and lighted his
pipe.

"What do you think was the matter with Black Steve?" he asked.

"It looked as if he'd taken some liquor, but I don't know," Thirlwell
answered. "He was obviously scared."

"Sure," said Scott. "But he wasn't scared of getting drowned. Steve's a
better canoe hand than either of us and has physical pluck."

"Then why was he afraid?"

Scott looked thoughtful. "I imagine he was afraid of the rapid and the
dark. When he hailed us to take him over, I thought it an excuse; he
could have got across in his own canoe if he had braced up. My notion is
he didn't want to make the trip by himself." He paused and gave
Thirlwell a keen glance. "Curious, isn't it?"

"He's a curious man," said Thirlwell, who had dark suspicions that he
did not want to talk about. "When we were drifting into the rapid, I got
a glimpse of his face and didn't look