make any portages we should seriously suffer in having
to walk with our loads over the hard ground.

We used but a small portion of our deerskins. We intended the remainder
to serve as a covering for our provisions in the daytime, and for
ourselves at night, should the weather become cold. Our intention,
however, was to kill two or three bears, the skins of which might better
answer the latter purpose. It was with evident regret that Pat the next
morning left the hut in which he had made himself so completely at home;
still, he had no wish to remain behind.

"If I had but a few pigs and praties," he observed, with a sigh, "I'd
soon be afther making a garden of this wilderness."

Again we were paddling down the stream, with Pat on board. There was
room for him, and though his weight brought the canoe much deeper in the
water than before, as long as it remained calm we had no fear.

We paddled along, and were speaking to Pat of the possibility that Sandy
and the other men had escaped. He, however, declared that they must
have been drowned, as he had seen them, he asserted, a long way below
the rocks in the seething foam, through which it would be impossible for
them to swim; still, we had some hopes--knowing the dangers from which
some men manage to escape--that they had saved their lives.

Martin had manufactured some hooks, and had greatly improved his
fish-spear, of which he was very proud. We had not gone far when we
came to a slight rapid, down which, however, Alick declared he should
have no difficulty in steering the canoe; though the water ran swiftly
and a few dark rocks appeared above the surface, as there were no waves
of any size and but comparatively little foam, there did not appear to
be much danger.

Martin, who was seated in the bow, exclaimed, "I saw a sturgeon pass us
just now; if I catch sight of any more, I must have one of them."

Presently, before Alick could warn him of the danger he was running, he
stood up and darted his spear. The next instant what was our horror to
see him fall over headlong into the water, the line attached to the
spear catching as he did so round his leg!

I was sitting next to him, and attempted to catch hold of one of his
feet, which hung for a moment on the gunwale.

The canoe was nearly upset, the water rushing quickly in. At the same
time, her bow being stopped she was brought broadside to the current.
Before I could catch Martin's foot, it slipped off