"What happened to them?" asked Wally. "Did they go over?"

"Well, they reckoned it wasn't healthy to remain in the canoe," said
Jim. "It was simply spinning along in the current, and the falls were
almost in sight. So they dived in, on opposite sides--the blessed canoe
nearly tipped over when they stood up, and only the shock of the cross
drive kept her right. Of course the creek's not so very wide, even
farther up beyond the falls, and the force of their spring sent them
nearly out of the current. They could both swim well, and after a
struggle they got to the banks, just in time to see the canoe whisk over
the waterfall!"

"What hard luck!"

"It was rather. They started off down-stream to find it, but for a long
way they couldn't see a trace. Then, right in the calm water, ever so
far down, they found it--bit by bit. It was broken into so much
matchwood!"

"What did they do?" asked Wally.

"Stood and stared at it from opposite sides, like two wet images," said
Jim, laughing. "It's lowdown to grin, I suppose, but they must have
looked funny. Then one of them swam across and they made their way to
our place, and we fixed them up with dry things and drove them home. I
don't think they've gone in for canoeing since!" finished Jim
reflectively.

"Well, I guess it would discourage them a bit," Wally agreed. "Getting
shipwrecked's no fun."

"Ever tried it?"

"Once--in Albert Park Lagoon," Wally admitted bashfully. "Some of us
went out for a sail one Saturday afternoon. We didn't know much about
it, and I really don't know what it was that tipped the old boat over. I
was the smallest, so naturally I wasn't having any say in managing her."

"That accounts for it," said Jim dryly.

"Didn't mean that--goat!" said Wally. "Anyhow, I was very much
astonished to find myself suddenly kicking in the mud. Ever been in that
lake? It isn't nice. It isn't deep enough to drown you, but the mud is a
caution. I got it all over me--face and all!"

"You must have looked your best!" said Jim.

"I did. I managed to stand up, very much amazed to find I wasn't
drowned. Two of the others walked out! I was too small to do more than
just manage to keep upright. The water was round my chest. I couldn't
have walked a yard."

"How did you manage?"

"A boat came along and picked up the survivors," grinned Wally. "They
wouldn't take us in. We were just caked with mud, so I don't blame
'em--but we hung on to the stern, and they towed