o the first of the rapids, while the Ellison brothers,
turning and espying what they were attempting, redoubled their efforts
to make the carry. Tom and Bob cast a glance back, and also continued
along the carry; but George and Arthur Warren, having seen Henry Burns's
schemes work successfully before, turned and came out to the rapids.
There they waited, ready to make the attempt should they see it prove
successful, or to be in a position to put hurriedly for shore should it
prove a failure.

"Better come on. You're wasting time," called Tom Harris once, as he set
his end of their canoe down on a shelf of ledge. But Henry Burns made no
reply, while Harvey only waved his paddle defiantly.

For several rods, Harvey and Henry Burns made fair progress, working
quick and sharp, plying their paddles with rapid thrusts. Little clumps
of white froth floated fast by them, indicating the swift running of the
water, and its disturbance. Then the stronger current caught them, and
they barely forged ahead. By the appearance of the water, looking down
upon it as they struggled, they seemed to be flying; but it was the
water, and not they, that was moving rapidly. They hung close by the
little points of projecting ledge for moments at a time, making no
headway. They redoubled their efforts, drove their paddles through the
water with desperate energy, and gained the first mark they had set.

Slowly the bow of the canoe crept up to a spot where the keen eyes of
Henry Burns had noted the sunken ledge, at a point only a rod from the
upper incline. This ledge did not show above water, but the boiling of
the stream and an almost imperceptible sloping of the surface on either
hand showed that it was there.

Henry Burns leaned over the side of the canoe and gazed anxiously.
Should the water there prove deeper than he had hoped, they would not
ground, and must be carried back, their strength exhausted. But he had
not been mistaken.

In a moment the water suddenly shallowed. A hard thrust with the
paddles, and the canoe grated gently.

"Easy, Jack," cried Henry Burns. "She's hit. Get out the pole."

Harvey seized the setting-pole from the bottom of the canoe, dropping
his paddle in its place. He thrust it quick and with all his strength
into the swift-running water. At a depth of about three feet it caught
the rocky bottom and held. Harvey braced with the pole and shoved the
bow of the canoe, which had touched on the part of the ledge th