Nor did
he, on his arrival at the camp, tell of his find.
Shortly after two o'clock Milton ordered all hands aboard. But before
this he had shown them all the map, adding a rough sketch of his own.
The next rapid appeared to be no more dangerous than the previous one.
But below it the river widened out into a circular bay, a great tureen
within which the waters moved with an oil-like smoothness. But when
Milton threw a stick into this strange basin, it was whirled the entire
circumference of the bay with a velocity that all the men agreed boded
ill for any boat that did not cling to the wall. The west end of the
bay, where it was all but blocked by the closing in of the Canyon
sides, could not be seen from the rocks where the men stood. But the
old maps reported a steep fall which must be portaged.
"Cling to the right-hand wall," ordered Milton. "If you steer out,
Harden, for the sake of the short cut, you may be lost. The reports
show that two other boats were lost here. Cling to the wall! When we
reach the mouth we must go ashore again and examine the falls. Be sure
your life preservers are strapped securely."
"Mr. Milton," said Jonas, "you better let me get my hands on a oar. If
I got to die, I'm going to die fighting.
Pages:
258
259
260
261
262
263
264
265
266
267
268
269
270
271
272
273
274
275
276
277
278
279
280
281
282