nd, even as he muttered the
last exclamation, the canoe dipped to the incline of the chute and went
darting down its smooth surface. They hardly saw the sides of the flume
as they shot by. Almost instantly, it seemed, they were in the tumbling,
boiling waters at the foot of it, Henry Burns crouching low in the bow,
so as not to be pitched overboard; Harvey bracing for one moment with
his paddle and striking the water furiously the next, to keep it on its
course.

The canoe shipped water, and they feared it would be swamped; but they
kept on. Then, as they swept past a jutting of ledge that bordered the
lower shore, two figures standing together waved to them and cried out
joyously:

"Paddle hard! Go it, Jack! Give it to her, Henry! You're way ahead.
They're not half 'round the bank yet. Hooray!"

Spurred by the cries, the two canoeists plied their paddles with renewed
zeal. So on they emerged into smooth water. Away up the bank, Tom and
Bob, dismayed, saw their rivals take the lead in the long race--a lead
that could not be overcome.

Sitting up proudly, Henry Burns and Harvey raced past the familiar
shores, saw the old camp come into view, shot across the finishing line,
and the race was won. Standing on the bank, they watched the others come
trailing in: Tom and Bob not far behind; the Warren boys third, and the
Ellisons last.

"Yes," said Tom Harris, good-naturedly, as they sat outside the camp a
little later, "but you had to get a girl to show you how to beat us."

"How'd you know you could go through there, anyway?" he added, turning
to the girl who, with Little Tim had come down the shore to see the
finish.

"Did it to get away from gran' once," replied Bess Thornton, her eyes
twinkling. "My, but wasn't she scared. It's easy, though, isn't it,
Tim?"

"Easy! It's nothin'," said Little Tim.

CHAPTER X

HENRY BURNS MAKES A GIFT

It was evening, and the streets of Benton's shopping section were
lighted; the illumination of windows serving to display the attractions
arranged therein to best advantage. The night was warm and pleasant, and
the passers-by moved leisurely, enjoying the sights, or pausing now and
then to gaze in, as some object caught their eye.

Three boys, sauntering along one of the principal thoroughfares, stopped
abruptly as one of their number called them to a halt and pointed on
ahead. The object to which he pointed was a fourth youth, who was
standing, with hands in his pock