FOREST SPORTS. 
217 
You are done up, are you] I thought that last burst up the 
rapid would blow you. Yoicks ! hark forward, Adella ! they 
must not kill both the Moose—forward, my lad, forward!’ 
—and Howard, to my astonishment, seizing another pole, 
sprung to the bow of his canoe, and at once showed me he was 
deeply skilled in the mysteries of the ‘ light bark.’ Not a mo¬ 
ment did Sabatisie hesitate—the taunt had stung him in the 
tenderest point. A proud smile for a moment played over his 
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 lightning 
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 fixed on 
