le Zeke narrowly escaped
going overboard. Almost immediately the water, backed up behind the
stern, began to overflow into the boat. Newmark, clearing his vision
as well as he could for lack of his glasses, saw that the scow had
evidently run her bow on an obstruction, and had been brought to a
standstill square beneath the sluice-gate. Men seemed to be running
toward them. The water was beginning to flow the entire length of the
boat. Various lighter articles shot past him and disappeared over the
side. Charlie had gone crazy and was grabbing at these, quite uselessly,
for as fast as he had caught one thing he let it go in favour of
another. The cookees, retaining some small degree of coolness, were
pushing uselessly with pike-poles.

Newmark had an inspiration. The more important matters, such as the
men's clothes-bags, the rolls of bedding, and the heavier supplies of
provisions, had not yet cut loose from their moorings, although the
rapid backing of the water threatened soon to convert the wanigan into
a chute for nearly the full volume of the current. He seized one of the
long oars, thrust the blade under the edge of a thwart astern laid the
shaft of the oar across the cargo, and by resting his weight on the
handle attempted to bring it down to bind the contents of the wanigan
to their places. The cookees saw what he was about, and came to his
assistance. Together they succeeded in bending the long hickory sweep
far enough to catch its handle-end under another, forward, thwart. The
second oar was quickly locked alongside the first, and not a moment too
soon. A rush of water forced them all to cling for their lives. The poor
old wanigan was almost buried by the river.

But now help was at hand. Two or three rivermen appeared at the edge of
the chute. A moment later old man Reed ran up, carrying a rope. This,
after some difficulty, was made fast to the bow of the wanigan. A dozen
men ran with the end of it to a position of vantage from which they
might be able to pull the bow away from the sunken obstruction, but
Orde, appearing above, called a halt. After consultation with
Reed, another rope was brought and the end of it tossed down to the
shipwrecked crew. Orde pointed to the stern of the boat, revolving his
hands in pantomime to show that the wanigan would be apt to upset if
allowed to get side-on when freed. A short rope led to the top of the
dam allowed the bow to be lifted free of the obstruction; a cable ast