e reached up and
caught hold of a branch, seized it firmly and jumped clear of the canoe,
which went over the falls almost under her feet. Then, swinging along by
her arms, she reached the shore and stood in safety. It had all happened
so quickly the girls could hardly comprehend it. Gladys, who had hidden
her eyes to shut out the dreadful sight, heard an incredulous shout from
the girls and looked down to see the _Keewaydin_ landing on the rocks
below, empty, and Sahwah standing on the bank.
"How did you ever manage to do it?" gasped Hinpoha, when they had
surrounded her with exclamations of joy and amazement. "You're a heroine
again."
"You're nothing of the sort," said Nyoda. "It was sheer foolhardiness or
carelessness that got you into that scrape. A girl who doesn't know
enough to keep out of the current isn't to be trusted with a canoe, no
matter what a fine paddler she is. I certainly thought better of you
than that, Sahwah. I never used to have the slightest anxiety when you
were on the water, I had such a perfect trust in your common sense, but
now I can never feel quite sure of you again."
Sahwah hung her head in shame, for she felt the truth of Nyoda's words.
"I think you can trust me after this," she said humbly. "I have learned
my lesson." She was not likely to forget the horror of the moment when
she had heard the water roaring over the dam and thought her time had
come. Sahwah liked to be thought clever as well as daring, and it was
certainly far from clever to run blindly into danger as she had done.
She sank dejectedly down on the bank, feeling disgraced forever in the
eyes of the Winnebagos.
"Girls," said Mrs. Evans, wishing to take their minds off the fright
they had received, "do you know that we are not many miles from one of
the model dairy farms of the world? I could take you over in the car and
bring you back here in time to go home in the launch."
"Let's do it, Nyoda," begged all the Winnebagos, and into the machine
they piled. When they were still far in the distance they could see the
high towers of the barns rising in the air. "We're nearly there," said
Mrs. Evans; "here is the beginning to the cement fence that runs all the
way around the four-thousand-acre farm." Mrs. Evans knew some of the
people in charge of the farm and they had no difficulty gaining
admittance. That visit to the Carter Farm was a long-remembered one. The
girls walked through the long stables exclaiming at every
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