k of moments. Reaching out as far as he could, he just
managed to grip the clinging garment of the object sweeping by, and as
he grasped it tightly, so great was the power of the water, that he felt
a sudden snatch that threatened to tear the prize from his hand. But
Bart held on fiercely, and before he could fully comprehend his position
he found that he had overbalanced himself, and the next moment he had
gone under with a sullen plunge.

Bart was a good swimmer, and though encumbered with his clothes, he felt
no fear of reaching the bank somewhere lower down; and, confident in
this respect, he looked round as he rose to the surface for the body of
him he had tried to save, for as he struck the water he had loosened his
hold.

There was just a glimmer of something below the surface, and taking a
couple of sturdy strokes, Bart reached it before it sank lower, caught
hold, and then guiding his burden, struck out for the shore.

The rocks from which he had come were already a hundred yards above
them, the stream sweeping them down with incredible swiftness, and Bart
knew that it would be folly to do more than go with it, striving gently
the while to guide his course towards some projecting rocks upon the
bank. There was the possibility, too, of finding some eddy which might
lead him shoreward; and after fighting hard to get a hold upon a piece
of smooth stone that promised well, but from which he literally seemed
to be plucked by the rushing water, Bart found himself in a deep, still
pool, round which he was swept twice, and, to his horror, nearer each
time towards the centre, where, with an agonising pang, he felt that he
might be sucked down.

Dreading this, he made a desperate effort, and once more reached the
very edge of the great, calm, swirling pool just as the bushes on the
bank were parted with a loud rush, and the Beaver literally bounded into
the water, to render such help that when, faint and exhausted, they all
reached a shallow, rocky portion of the stream a quarter of a mile below
where Bart had made his plunge, the chief was ready to lift out the
object the lad had tried to save, and then hold out his hand and help
the lad ashore.

The next minute they were striving all they knew to try and resuscitate
him whom Bart had nearly lost his life in trying to save, the
interpreter joining them to lend his help; and as they worked, trying
the plan adopted by the Indians in such a case, the new-comer told