her
hands as though she had heard the last trumpet of the Day of Judgment,
and rushing into the house she alarmed all the occupants. The look of
horror they gave the Captain as he stood on that rock in the midst of
the rapids, beckoning to them with his paddle, was evidence that they
took him for his Satanic majesty or one of his courtiers.

"Lan' sakes, 'Zekiel!" exclaimed the boldest one or the party, who
chanced to be a tall, raw-boned female, "go git gran'pap's old
blunderbuss, an' shoot it."

Zekiel was rooted to the spot with fear and heeded not the exhortation
of his strong-minded relative. Boyton, who feared the people who did not
keep posted by reading the papers, more than he did the rapids, relieved
them by taking to the water, and was flashed from their sight as he
was drawn into another and larger rapid. He was whirled into a place
where he had a hard struggle over a bed of round, slippery rocks
in shallow water. He could not find the channel, and if he stood up to
take an observation, his feet would be swept from under him. He was
fully an hour getting over the rocks, walking, crawling or paddling as
best he could. At five o'clock he reached Bristol. There he was advised
to go no further and a telegram from his agent below, told him the
river was too dangerous to travel at night. The next morning the
landlord's daughter drove him to the bank and a large crowd watched as
he paddled away toward the whirlpool, against which he had been warned.
It was a rough passage, but he reached Franklin in safety at one
o'clock. All the way he had kept a sharp lookout for the driver of the
wrecked wagon, but could discover no trace of him. Before reaching
Franklin a fleet of boats rowed up to the falls to meet him, and
bonfires were built along the shore in his honor.

The voyage was resumed at eight o'clock next morning, and at ten o'clock
he shot Sewell's Falls, a rather rough place, and from there the river
was lonely until West Concord was reached. Here the booming of cannon
announced his safe arrival to the people. He was met by a fleet of boats
and informed that they had been looking for him two days. He was warned
to look out for Turkey Falls, and before proceeding he asked a
countryman which side of the falls he should take, and received the
cheering answer that, "whichever side he took he would wish he had
taken the other." Both banks of the falls were lined with people, Paul
alw