f day came streaming in, making Dale, a few yards before him, stand out
like a silhouette clearly cut in black, while for a hundred yards the
water now ran, rapidly widening and growing less like a torrent, till
right away he could see it flowing smoothly between the towering rocks
that were piled-up on either side of its bed.

CHAPTER TEN.

BEING USED TO IT.

Dale hurried on, with Saxe close behind him, till they were out of the
gloomy schlucht, and scrambling over the rocks by the rapidly widening
stream, whose waters had now grown turbid, and were bearing great
patches of grey froth upon their surface.

They could see for a couple of hundred yards down the narrow way along
which the stream ran; then it bore off to the right and was hidden; and
to command a better view, as they eagerly searched the surface for some
trace of Melchior, they mounted the tumbled-together rocks, and saw that
they were at the head of a widening valley, surrounded by nearly level
mountains, forming an oval, which looked like the bed of an ancient lake
similar to the one they had lately left. But, in place of deep water,
there was a plain of thinly scattered grass growing amongst fragments of
rock that looked as if they had been swept down from the mountains
round, and serpentining through the level was the swift river, whose
course they could trace till it passed through a narrow gap at the far
end.

Saxe climbed the higher, and balanced himself on the top of a rough
block, which rocked slightly, like a Cornish logan, as he stood shading
his eyes and following the course of the stream amongst the huge
boulders which often hid it from view; while from his lower position
Dale searched the windings nearer to them, hoping to see that which they
sought stranded somewhere among the stones.

But they looked in vain.

"Can you see anything, Saxe?"

"No," replied the boy in a despondent tone: "can you, sir!"

"Nothing. We must follow the stream down. I dare say we shall find
some shallows lower down. Come along quickly."

He began to descend.

"We must find him, Saxe, and then make the best of our way back for
help. Poor fellow! I'd freely give all I possess to see him safe and
sound."

"Then hurrah! Come up here, sir. Look! look!"

"What! you don't mean? Saxe, boy--speak!" cried Dale excitedly, trying
to mount beside him.

"Hi! don't! You'll have me overboard!" shouted the boy, as the great
block of stone rocked to s