can keep up
for a month. Swing that sail over. That's right. Now we're off on the
other tack."

He spoke out quite cheerily now, and handled the tiller so that the boat
glided off in the opposite direction to that in which she had been
sailing, and for the next half-hour they tacked and tacked about,
sailing as close as they could to the wind, which was blowing gently
right for the falls.

Their course was a series of tacks, which, if they were represented on
paper, would be marked as a zigzag, and had the breeze been fresher the
sailing qualities of the boat would have enabled her to easily master
the current which was steadily carrying them towards the falls.

But instead of freshening, the wind, which was making the leaves quiver
ashore, seemed to be growing fainter and fainter as they came nearer to
the thundering falls, for it was plain enough that in spite of all their
efforts the current was the stronger, and that it was only a question of
time before the pulling of the men would become weaker and the boat
would be drawn right on and on into the churned-up foaming water, and
then--

CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR.

STARING AT DEATH.

It was too horrible to think of, and Brace, to keep out of his brain the
mental picture of the swamped boat, the thundering water beating them
down into the awful chaos, and the shudder-engendering ideas connected
with the fierce fish waiting to attack and literally devour them alive,
changed his position so as to kneel down in the bottom of the boat,
facing the second oarsman, lay his hands upon the oar, and help every
pull with a good push. Briscoe followed his example, and the strength
of six was thus brought to bear upon the oars.

For a few minutes this extra effort seemed to have supplied all that was
necessary, and as the men saw that they were beginning to draw a little
away from the falling water they burst out simultaneously with a hearty
hurrah, one that seemed to give fresh energy to the rowers. But it
sounded feeble, hushed, and smothered as it were by the increasing roar
of the falling water, ever growing into an overpowering, muffled
thunder.

Still there was the fact that wind and muscle were stronger than the
current, and the boat was steadily drawing away as they advanced in
their tack towards the farther shore.

On the strength of this and to save losing ground in turning to go upon
the next tack, Lynton kept on, and shouted an encouraging word or two
f