Part 38 (1/2)

The sailors had been listening to every word, and quick as thought the little four-fluked boat anchor was tossed over the bows, and the line ran out to the extreme limit.

Brace watched anxiously for the iron to catch in the bottom and check their way. But he looked in vain.

”That's no good,” said the American sharply. ”Bound to say you'd want a rope ten times as long as that one up here, and if you had it no gimcrack of a grapnel like that would take hold of the smooth rock bottom.”

”Well, what else can I do? We seem to be helpless,” said Lynton.

Briscoe replied, in a most determined voice:

”Order out the oars, sir, if you don't want the boat to be swamped and your bones to be picked by these fiends of fish.”

The men did not wait for orders from their officer, but seized the oars, and the next minute they were pulling with a long, steady, vigorous stroke in the direction the mate steered; but from where Brace sat aft he could see that they were still gliding gradually upward.

It was only too plain to him that this was the case, for he could mark their position by fixing his eyes upon a rock on the farther sh.o.r.e and see that they were first abreast of it and soon after leaving it behind them.

”We've got our work cut out here, Mr Lynton,” said the American sternly. ”I should change course again, sir, and make a tack in the other direction.” Then, turning to the sailors, he said:

”Stick to your oars, my lads, and pull a steady stroke. No flurry. Be cool.”

”Look here, sir: are you in command of this boat or am I?” cried the second mate, losing his temper in his excitement.

”Neither of us, I reckon,” said the American coolly. ”Strikes me no human being is in command of her now. She's going where the current takes her.”

”Well, I don't want you interfering and giving orders to the men,”

answered the mate.

”Suppose we take our orders from Mr Brace here.” Briscoe turned to Brace. ”What do you say, sir--do you think my advice is good?”

”Yes, Lynton, it is good,” said Brace firmly. ”Do as Mr Briscoe says.”

”All right, sir; I'll take my orders from you as I would from your brother; but I'm not going to be hustled about over my work by a Yankee who came aboard as a stowaway.”

”That will do, Mr Lynton,” said Brace haughtily. ”I'd be willing to take my orders from any man if I felt that they were right, as I know these are, and you do too if you will only be a little reasonable and think.”

”I don't want any thinking, sir,” said Lynton frankly. ”Yes, it's right enough. Pull, my lads, a good steady stroke, one that you 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 ash.o.r.e, 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.