THE RIVER SHOWS ITS TEETH 293 



northern lakes, discovery of two great northern rivers, 

 many lakes, a thousand things of interest to others 

 and priceless to me — ^my summer's work — gone; yes, 

 I could bear that, but the three chapters of life and 

 thought irrevocably gone; the magnitude of this ca- 

 lamity was crushing. Oh, God, this is the most awful 

 blow that could have fallen at the end of the six 

 months' trip. 



"The hours went by, and the gloom grew deeper, 

 for there was no sign of the boys. Never till now did 

 the thought of danger enter my mind. Had they been 

 too foolhardy in their struggle with the terrible stream? 

 Had they, too, been made to feel its power? My 

 guess was near the truth; and yet there was that awful 

 river unchanged, glittering, surging, beautiful, exactly 

 as on so many days before, when life on it had seemed 

 so bright. 



"At three in the afternoon, I saw a fly crawl down 

 the rocks a mile away. I fed the fire and heated up 

 the food and tea. In twenty minutes I could see that 

 it was Rob, but both his hands were empty. 'If they 

 had found it,' I said to myself, 'they would send it 

 back first thing, and if he had it, he would swing it 

 aloft, ' Yet no, nothing but a shiny tin was in his hands 

 and the blow had fallen. The suspense was over, 

 anyway. I bowed my head, 'We have done what we 

 could.' 



"Rob came slowly up, worn out. In his hand a tin 

 of baking-powder. Across his breast was a canvas 

 band. He tottered toward me, too tired to speak in 

 answer to my unspoken question, but he turned and 



