FOREST SPORTS. 217 



You are done up, are you 'i I thought that last burst up the 

 rapid would blow you. Yoicks ! hark forward, Adella ! they 

 mast not kill both the Moose — forward, my lad, forward!' 

 — and Howard, to my astonishment, seizing another pole, 

 s[)rung to the bow of his canoe, and at once showed rae he was 

 deeply skilled in the inysteries of the ' light hark.'' Not a mo- 

 ment did Sabatisie hesitate — the taunt had stung him in the 

 tenderest point. A proud smile for a moment played over liis 

 countenance, and telling me to place myself so as to throw the 

 whole weight of my body in the bow of the canoe, he settled 

 steadily to his work. With the assistance of Howard, Adella 

 had been gradually widening the breach between us ; but when 

 Sabatisie had trimmed the canoe to his liking, and put forth his 

 whole strength, it was evident they could not long maintain 

 their advantage. Thus we proceeded, and the trial of skill and 

 strength occupied all my attention, till a fierce peal of thunder 

 burst directly over our heads, and one vivid glare of liglitning 

 wrapped the whole scene in a momentary blaze : down came 

 the wind, rushing between the high cliffs, and lashing the rapid 

 into a white foam. The poor canoe seemed to tremble, as Sa- 

 batisie, with a dark frown on his swarthy brow, sternly forced 

 her against both the tempest and the force of the current. I 

 now began to think we had better have taken the advice of the 

 elder Indian. The sharp rocks on each side frowned forebo- 

 ding on our approach, and we could not trust our frail vessel 

 near them : to turn back was equally dangerous, as had the ca- 

 noe broached to and taken the swell on her beam, she could not 

 have lived a moment. The mist and foam had for some time 

 hid our comrades from view, when the report of a rifle brought 

 my recollection back to the chase, and I now thought I could 

 discover a dark object drifting down the torrent towards us. 

 I was not mistaken — it was Adella's canoe ! ! — and as it flew 

 past, I could perceive the forms of two persons lying flat in the 

 bottom. As the tempest was now at its greatest fury, it requi- 

 red all the skill, nerve, and strength of Sabatisie to keep the 

 head of our canoe to the wind. His eye was steadily fixod on 



