hrough the smoke.

"God be praised!" said the trapper, "it's the boy's own piece, and he
let it off as he shot the rift the fourth bend above. Yis, the boy knows
his danger and he took the vantage of the rift to signal me with his
piece, for oars couldn't help him in the rift and the missin' of a
single stroke wouldn't count. I trust the boy got the pups, arter all,"
added the old trapper, his mind instantly reverting to his loved
companions the moment it was relieved from anxiety touching his comrade.

It couldn't have been over five minutes after the report of a rifle had
sounded, before a boat swept suddenly around the bend above the rock and
shot like an arrow through the haze toward the trapper. Herbert was at
the oars and the two hounds were sitting on their haunches at the stern.
The stroke the oarsman was pulling was such as a man pulls when, in
answer to some emergency, he is putting forth his whole strength. But
though the stroke was an earnest one, there was no apparent hurry in it;
for it was long and evenly pulled, from dip to finish, and the recovery
seemed a trifle leisurely done. The face of the trapper fairly shone
with delight as he saw the boat and the occupants. Indeed, his happiness
was too great to be enjoyed silently, and, in accordance with his habit
when greatly interested, he broke into speech.

"Look at that now!" he exclaimed, as if speaking to some one at his
side; "look at that now! There's a stroke that's worth notin', and is a
kind of edication in itself. Ye might almost think that there wasn't
quite enough snap in it; but the boy knows that he's pullin' for his
life and the life of another man somewhere below him--not to speak of
the pups--and he knows it's good seven miles to the rapids, and he's
pullin' every ounce that's in him to pull, and keep his stroke. Now,
he's come five miles, ef he's come a rod, and I warrant he hasn't missed
a stroke, save when in shootin' the rift he let off his piece. And he
knows he's got seven miles more to pull and he's set himself a
twelve-mile stroke; and there aint many men that could do it, with the
roar of the fire a leetle way behind him. Yis, the boy has acted with
jedgment and is sartinly comin' along like a buck in full jump. I guess
I'd better let him know where I be."

"Hillow there, boy! Hi, hi, pups! Here I be on the p'int of the rock, as
fresh as a buck arter a mornin' drink. Ease away a leetle, Herbert, in
yer stroke and move the pups f