water, which was indeed the case!

"N-no! ye can't! 's not poss'ble--hah! my! oh there 'e goes again--
s-t-swash!"

Down he went, flat, as he spoke, and water stopped his utterance, while
the fish wriggled into the centre of the channel, and carried him into
the deep pool below!

Here the scene was not quite so exciting, because the battle was not so
fierce. The salmon had it all his own way in the deep water, and
dragged his attached friend hither and thither as he pleased. On the
other hand, Alric ceased to contend, and merely held on with his right
hand, while with his left he kept his head above water. The pool
circled about in large oily wavelets flecked with foam, so that there
was a great contrast in all this to the tremendous turmoil of the raging
rapid. But the comparative calm did not last long. The huge fish made
a frantic, and apparently a last, effort to get free. It rushed down to
the foot of the pool, and passed over the edge into the next rapid.

The girls shrieked when they saw this, for, unlike the former, this one
was a deep rush of the river, between narrower banks, where its course
was obstructed by large rocks. Against these the stream beat furiously.
Alric knew the spot well, and was aware of the extreme danger of his
position. He therefore made a violent effort to drag the fish towards a
point where there was a slight break or eddy among a number of boulders,
intending to let him go, if necessary, rather than lose his life. He
succeeded, however, in getting upon one of the rocks quite close to the
bank, and then endeavoured to lift the fish out of the water. In this
also he was successful; made a splendid heave, and flung it with all his
force towards the bank, on which it alighted, trident and all, at the
feet of Hilda. But in letting go his hold of the handle Alric lost his
balance, flung his arms above his head in a vain endeavour to recover
himself, and, with a loud shout, fell back into the roaring torrent and
was swept away.

A few moments sufficed to carry him into the pool below, to the edge of
which the girls rushed, and found that he was floating round and round
in a state of insensibility, every moment passing near to the vortex of
the rapid that flowed out of it. Hilda at once rushed in waist-deep and
caught him by the collar. She would have been swept away along with
him, but Ada also sprang forward and grasped Hilda by the mantle. She
could not, however, drag her