get
there."

The guide's surmise was correct for John was exerting himself strongly to
gain a low point which he had seen in the distance and around which the
swift waters of the current were swept forward.

Before the conversation in the boat was renewed both the guide and Fred
were aware that John had succeeded in his attempt.

He had gained the low lying shore, but in his efforts to rise, although
the water where he was standing did not come above his waist, he several
times was thrown back into the stream and once nearly lost his foothold.

However, at last the sturdy lad succeeded in gaining the shore. As soon as
he had shaken the water from his head he turned to look in the direction
from which the skiff was coming. The boat now was not more than one
hundred feet away.

"Come in here! Stop here!" shouted John in his loudest tones.

Whether or not his words were heard he saw that his friends were doing
their utmost to follow his directions. Still borne onward by the rushing
current they nevertheless succeeded in gaining the outer edge and when the
sharp bend around the point was made they came sufficiently near the shore
to enable Pete with the painter in his hand to leap into the shallow
water.

Although the guide braced himself strongly and exerted all his strength,
his attempt would have failed, if John, instantly aware of the predicament
of his companion, had not leaped to his aid. While Pete was struggling and
striving to regain a firm standing John seized the painter and as he was
braced for the sudden strain he succeeded in checking the speed of the
boat and drawing it within the more sheltered waters of the little bay.

Meanwhile Pete had succeeded in grasping the gunwale of the skiff and
promptly shouted, "Run her up on the beach, boys! One, two, three! Now
then, all together!"

By their united efforts they succeeded in bringing the boat up on the
shore to a place where it was not in danger of being swept away by the
swiftly flowing river.

"That's what I call a close call," exclaimed Fred with a sigh of relief,
when at last he was certain not only that his friend was safe but that
all the cargo and the skiff itself had been landed. "What happened to
you?" he inquired of John.

"I didn't have time to find out very much," replied John demurely. "I lost
my balance and the first thing I knew I was making as graceful a dive as
ever you saw. I went up like a rocket."

"You looked very much like a