hough upon a sheet of glass.
They saw Harvey in the stern set his pole and shove mightily, his
muscles knotted and his face drawn and grim with determination. They saw
the canoe slowly gain against the current.

[Illustration: "THE WATCHERS ASHORE SAW THE CANOE SLOWLY TURN AND FACE
THE SWIFT CURRENT."]

At the edge of the slope it stood still for what seemed an age. They saw
the two in bow and stern struggle desperately again and again to wrest
their craft from the clutch of the current. Then, almost with a leap,
freed from the fierce resistance of the rapids, the canoe slid over the
brink of the incline, into the deeper part of the stream above.

A moment later, they saw the poles dropped and the paddles snatched up.
The canoe shot swiftly ahead, propelled by triumphant arms. The rapids
were conquered. Henry Burns and Harvey had won their hard fight.

In vain had Tom and Bob, hurrying recklessly, bumping their canoe along
the rough shore, essayed to complete the carry before it would be too
late. To their chagrin and dismay, the sound of a horn blown three times
with a vigour announced to them the triumph of their comrades. Sadly
they shouldered their canoe, which they had set down at the first blast
of the horn, and turned their faces back along the trail, toward the
foot of the rapids.

Likewise, the Warren boys, accepting the inevitable, turned back and
prepared to attempt the difficult feat which they had seen accomplished.
At all events, they were, by reason of their position in the rear of Tom
and Bob, in possession of that much advantage over the more skilled
canoeists.

"Whew! but that was a tough one," exclaimed Harvey, dipping his paddle
leisurely, and recovering his breath. "Say, look at poor old Tom and
Bob--the champion canoeists. Bet they feel sore."

Henry Burns turned, looked back and smiled. Then, gazing up stream
again, he said, "Yes, but look there."

At a bend of the stream, fully a half mile ahead, the first canoe was
gliding easily along.

Harvey groaned. "And they'd be back there, too," he exclaimed, "if we
hadn't made that slip. Never mind, there's another day coming."

It seemed a long, long time, and they, themselves, had reached a point
fully a half mile above the rapids, before they espied first one canoe
and then another achieving the incline. They could not discern which was
in the lead, but it proved later to be the canoe handled by Tom and Bob,
the Warrens having made two fai