286 A Sportsman at Large 



One day Lars took them over the top of the Foss to show 

 them where the salmon, after ascending it, were wont to rest 

 in a shallow sluice, before proceeding up-river. 



Now it seems that this greatly interested the girls especially 

 the younger one. One day, whilst I was in the boat below 

 with Tolle, and when Tom and Teddy Maurice were just 

 coming down from the " Hiis " to relieve me and take their 

 turn, to my horror I saw the two girls leaping from boulder to 

 boulder on the summit of the Foss, alone and unattended. 

 I was just about to direct Tolle to row ashore and to run round 

 to warn them of the danger they were in, when suddenly 

 / saw the elder girl slip ! 



Immediately afterwards there was a terrible shriek. At 

 the same time I caught a momentary glimpse of a white, 

 struggling figure being borne over the brink of the raging Foss 

 and carried by the cataract to the depths below ! 



Then another figure was seen to take a header into the boil 

 of waters ! 



This proved to be the young sailor, who, witnessing what 

 had befallen his fiancee, had plunged, without hesitation, 

 to what appeared to be a certain death ; for to swim in such 

 a tumult of waters was utterly impossible. Then another, 

 but smaller body, was launched from the rocks into the pool. 

 A spaniel dog, seeing what his master had attempted, had 

 immediately followed suit ! 



Of course the gallant lad had not the remotest chance of 

 rescuing his beloved, for she had disappeared utterly, drawn 

 down to the depths by the relentless force of the torrent. 

 Even then she must have been beyond all human succour. 



A double tragedy, however, was averted by the merest 

 chance; for the swirling currents whirled the young officer 

 against a rock, where he managed to grip an interstice, and 

 to hold on until Lars hitched a gaff into his clothing and held 

 him up until Tom and Teddy Maurice came to the rescue. 



Now all this takes a long time to describe, but as it happened 

 it was only a matter of a few seconds, Meanwhile, the un- 

 fortunate mother (the General was not present) was shrieking 

 in an agony of terror and despair. In her ravings she cursed 

 us for a lot of cowards, who would make no attempt to save 



