CHAPTER II
WRECKED IN THE RAPIDS
WHEN they made this sudden plunge, the two boys were careful tomaintain their grip upon the sides of the boat, one being on the rightand the other on the left. Relieved of their weight, the buoyant canoewould probably float, and might yet prove of considerable help to themin navigating the remainder of the boisterous rapids.
All pioneer boys early learned to swim like fishes. It was as much apart of their education as handling a gun, or acquiring a knowledge ofwoodcraft. The lad who was not proficient in all these things wouldhave been hard to find, and had he been discovered, the chances werehe would have been deemed a true mollycoddle, and fit only to wear thedresses of his sister, or, as the Indians would have described it, be a"squaw."
No sooner had Dick and Roger found themselves in the swift flowingwaters than they struck out most manfully to keep themselves and theboat afloat. It was no new experience in their adventurous career, forbefore now they had more than once found themselves battling with aflood.
For a brief time it promised to be a most exciting experience, and onethat would require their best endeavors if they hoped to come out aliveat the foot of the rapids. To be hurled against some of the juttingspurs of rock with all the force of that speeding current would meanblows that would weaken their powers of resistance, and cause them tolose their grip on the side of the canoe.
There were times when they were almost overwhelmed by the dashing,foamy waters. In every instance, however, their pluck and good judgmentserved to carry them through the difficulty.
All the while they had the satisfaction of knowing that they must bedrawing closer to the end of the rapids. Already Dick believed he couldnotice a little slackening of the fury with which they were beatenon all sides by the lashing waters. He managed to give a shout toencourage his cousin.
"Keep holding on, Roger; we are nearly at the bottom! Another minutewill take us into smoother water! Tighten your grip, and we shall winout yet!"
"I'm game to the finish!" was all Roger could say in reply, for everytime he opened his mouth it seemed as though some of the riotous waterwould swoop over his head and almost choke him by forcing itself downhis throat.
Before another minute was half over they had come to the foot of therapids, and, still holding to the waterlogged canoe, floated out uponcomparatively smooth water. Here amidst the foam and eddies theymanaged to push the boat toward the shore.
Roger was already laughing, a little hysterically it is true, for hehad been tremendously worked up over the exciting affair. It might haveended in a tragedy for them; but, now that the peril was past, Rogercould afford to act as if he saw only the humorous side of the accident.
"That was a very close call, Dick!" he ventured, as they continued toswim as best they could, holding their guns in the hands that at thesame time clutched the gunwales of the boat.
"We rather expected it," replied Dick, "and laid our plans to meet anupset; but it came with a rush, after all. Who'd ever believe such alittle knock against a rock would have burst the tough skin of our hideboat?"
"Yes, and a perfectly _smooth_ rock at that," added Roger, as though heknew this to a certainty, and it added to the mystery in his eyes. "Ibelieved these boats were tough enough to stand ten times that amountof pounding. I believe after all I prefer our old style of dugout."
"Yes, they may be clumsy, but you can depend on them all the time;and after this I think I'll be suspicious about a hide boat," Dickcontinued.
The shore was now close at hand, and they found little difficulty inmaking a landing. At the same time the half sunken Indian boat wasdragged up on the bank, and tipped over to relieve it of the water,though that began to pour out through the rent in the bottom as soon asit left the river.
It was only natural that the two boys should first throw themselvesdown on the soft bank to regain some of their breath after suchan exciting time. Then, having been brought up in the school ofpreparedness, their next act was to examine their guns, and to renewthe priming of powder in the pan, so that the weapons, on which, theyalways depended to defend themselves against sudden perils, would be incondition for immediate use in case of necessity.
In those days old heads were to be found on young shoulders.Responsibility caused lads, hardly entering their teens, to becomethe defenders of their families, as well as hunters and trappers. Andthe Armstrong cousins had long filled a position of trust of thisdescription in the home circles.
"Well, we shot the rapids, all right," remarked Roger, presently, witha whimsical smile; "but not exactly as we had planned. Now we can havethe pleasure of walking back to camp. At least it saves us the botherof paddling all the way, after making a carry around the rapids. And wemeant to give our boat to one of the Mandan boys, you remember, Dick."
"I'm puzzled about that boat," remarked the other, frowning.
"I suppose you mean you wonder what made it play such a treacheroustrick on us, after standing the wear and tear of the winter," Rogerobserved.
"Yes, for you remember we examined it closely only yesterday, and madesure it was in perfect condition. Suppose we take a look at thatbreak, and see how it happened to come."
"Oh! the chances are," said Roger, carelessly, "the old hide becameworn or weak through age, and gave way. Still," he added, "that wasonly a little bump, Dick, and I'm as bothered as you are how to explainit."
In another minute they were bending over the upturned canoe.Immediately both boys uttered exclamations of astonishment, as thoughthey had made a discovery that gave them an unexpected thrill.
"Why, it looks as if a sharp knife blade had been drawn straight downalong here, and cut nearly through the skin, so that even a little blowwould finish it!" exclaimed Roger, turning his troubled eyes upon hiscousin as if to ascertain whether the other agreed with him.
"That is exactly what has been done," added Dick, soberly. "See, youcan even notice where the slit extends further than the break. This wasnot as much an accident as we thought, Roger. Some rascal, who knewwhat we expected to do, tried to bring about our destruction in therapids!"
"But it must have been done since yesterday," declared the otherangrily, "for we looked over every inch of the skin of the boat then,and surely would have noticed the deep scoring of a knife blade."
"There can be no doubt about that," agreed Dick. "And the work wasskillfully done in the bargain. Whoever made that cut expected thatthe boat would strike against rocks many times during the run of therapids, and took chances that one of the blows would tear open the weakplace. And that is what happened."
"It would have gone much harder with us if we had not been most of theway down the descent," said Roger, with a frown on his face. "But,Dick, who could the treacherous rascal be? As far as we know, we havenot made a single enemy among the members of the party. Would one ofour Indian friends have played such a mean trick on us, do you think?"
"No one but an enemy could have done it, Roger, because there wasnothing to gain; for while some Indians might envy us our rifles thesewould surely be lost with us in the rapids and never recovered."
"That makes the mystery worse than ever, then," fretted the otherlad, who was so constituted that among his boy friends down along theMissouri he had often gone under the name of "Headstrong Roger."
"I have a suspicion, although there is really nothing to back it up,that I can see," remarked Dick, reflectively, as though at some time inthe past winter he had allowed himself to speculate concerning certainthings which were now again taking possession of his mind.
"Dick, tell me what it is about, please," urged his cousin, "becauseI'm groping in the dark, myself."
"There is only one man that I know of who hates us bitterly," commencedDick, and instantly a flash of intelligence overspread the face of theother.
"Do you mean that French trader, Francois Lascelles?" he demanded.
"I was thinking of him, and his equally unscrupulous son, Alexis," Dickadmitted.
"But, when w
e captured them last fall, they were held prisoners in thecamp until Mayhew, the scout, was well on his way down the river andcould not possibly be overtaken. Then the party of Frenchmen was letgo, with the solemn warning from Captain Lewis that if any of themloitered around this region they would be shot on sight. And Dick, allwinter long you remember we have seen nothing of Lascelles, or indeedfor that matter any other white man."
"Still," urged the other, "he may have come back here again when hefound he could not overtake Mayhew and secure that paper. A man likeFrancois Lascelles hates bitterly, and never forgives. To be beaten inhis game by a couple of mere boys would make him gnash his teeth everytime he remembered it. Yes, something seems to tell me, Roger, thatour old enemy has returned, and is even now in communication with sometreacherous member of the expedition."
"You mean his money has hired some one to play this terrible trick thatmight have cost us our lives; is that it, Dick?"
"It is only a guess with me," replied the other, soberly; "but I cansee no other explanation of this mystery."
"But who could be the guilty man in the camp?" asked Roger. "Webelieved every one was our friend, from the two captains down to thelowest in line. It is terrible to suspect any one of a crime like this.How will we ever be able to find out about it, do you think?"
"We must begin to keep our eyes about us and watch," advised Dick. "Oneby one we can cross the names off our list until it narrows down totwo or three. Sooner or later we shall find out the truth."
"Do you mean to tell Captain Lewis about the knife-slit along thebottom of our boat?" demanded Roger.
"It is our duty to tell him," Dick declared. "The man who could stoopto such a trick as that, just for love of money, is not fit to stay inthe ranks of honest explorers. Once we can show him the proof, I amsure Captain Lewis will kick the rascal out of camp. But I can see thatyou are beginning to shiver, Roger; so the first thing we ought to donow is to make a fire, and dry our clothes as best we may."
"I was just going to say that myself, Dick, because this spring air issharp, with little heat in the sun. To tell you the honest truth myteeth are beginning to rattle like those bones the Mandan medicine manshakes, when he dances to frighten off the evil spirit that has enteredthe body of a sick man. So let's gather some wood and make a blaze."
With that, both boys began to bestir themselves, first of all slappingtheir arms back and forth to induce circulation; after which theystarted to collect dry wood in a heap. At no time, however, did theylet their precious guns leave their possession, for they knew thatwhen fire-arms were needed it was usually in a hurry, and to save life.