Lost in the Canon Part 7

This done, he went out and found that Ike and Ulna had succeeded in staying and landing a great deal of drift-wood, just the thing for a raft, and a number of stout poles that might be used in guiding it.

By this time the flood had risen still higher and higher, and was now ankle deep on the plateau outside the cave opening, and there was not a moment to lose.

With an energy that was all his own, and a skill that surprised himself, Sam set about building the raft.

By means of ropes, the longer timbers were securely lashed side by side, and over these, like a deck, the lighter slabs taken from the cave were nailed.

When this clumsy and insecure structure was completed, Sam saw that the food, blankets, arms and ammunition were tied so that they could not be swept off by the wash of the waters.

It comforted him somewhat to know that all his companions could swim, though the stoutest swimmer could not last long in the mad torrent sweeping past.

Sam a.s.signed each one a position, and gave him strict instructions as to what he must do under certain circ.u.mstances; and Maj seemingly well aware of what was up, crouched down in the center of the raft.

"Now," said Sam, as he stood up, pole in hand, at one end of the raft, "we must wait for the current to float us off, and trust in G.o.d."

CHAPTER VII.-THE WONDERFUL VOYAGE BEGINS.

Under and around the raft the waters surged and poured, as if they were testing the strength of the frail structure before lifting it up and hurling it away to destruction.

With his feet well apart to balance himself, and the long pole ready in his strong hands, Sam stood pale but resolute.

They had only a few minutes to wait.

Ike and Wah Shin sent up a cry of horror as, with the roar of an angry monster, the current swept the raft into the stream.

With the grim stoicism of his race, Ulna looked about him without seeming to be at all disturbed by the awful situation.

Sam's object was to get across to the other side of the canon and effect a landing with his party, for he never for an instant lost sight of the fact that his father's freedom if not his life depended on his reaching Hurley's Gulch at once with the papers in the Edwards case.

But alas for all the schemes planned by love and executed by courage!

What was man's strength and daring to the weight of the piled-up, flying waters?

The instant the raft swung away from the plateau Sam saw that his pole was of no use, for the river bottom was fully one hundred feet below the surface.

He tried to use the pole as a paddle, but his efforts had no effect on the course of the raft.

It was hurled like a plaything by some mighty, unseen power, into the center of the flood; then, with the speed of a racer urged on by whip and spur, the frail ark went flying down the canon.

For the life of him Sam could not utter a word. His face was blanched, but it was not with fear, though death seemed now inevitable.

"What will become of poor father!" This is what poor Sam would have cried out if he could have given expression to the one thought that filled his brain and the one feeling that stirred his heart.

But neither Ike nor Wah Shin attempted to restrain their cries, though their voices were nearly drowned out by the never-ceasing roar of the torrent.

Wah Shin was terror-stricken, and in his fright he forgot his little store of defective English and shouted for help in his native tongue.

The effect on Ike was to change the color of his face to a dark grey, and to make the whites of his eyes very conspicuous. He was devoutly on his knees, though he clung to the logs with both hands, and prayed with an earnestness that there was no mistaking.

In much less time than it takes to describe the feelings of the pa.s.sengers they were whirled out of sight of the caves and were rushing down between the towering canon walls with a velocity that was truly appalling.

It was Sam's belief, as well as the belief of the others, after they saw that crossing was impossible, that they would be crushed by the great jagged rocks that beset their course, but they soon discovered that they were in the middle of the current, and that they were pa.s.sing in safety the obstructions that threatened ruin every instant.

The bravest men tremble on the eve of their first battle, and their hearts sink when they hear the first rattle of the skirmishers' rifles.

But as the time pa.s.ses without their being shot down, they become indifferent to the dangers that at first alarmed and unnerved them, and fight with the coolness and confidence of veterans.

A sailor will laugh at a storm that is full of terrors to the landsman, for it is certain that familiarity with danger does breed contempt.

After the raft had dashed on for an hour or more, our friends began to feel confident and to look at the situation without fear in their eyes.

Ike was the first to speak; perhaps because Wah Shin had not yet regained his knowledge of English. After winking very fast for fully a half minute, he said:

"It don't seem like's if we was goin' to sink-at least not yet a bit."

He had to shout this out to make himself heard, and Sam, in response, had to speak in the same tones.

"If we can find a place where we can make a landing, I don't care how soon she sinks after that."

"Dar don't appeah to be much show foh a land in dese ar parts," said Ike, as he looked up at the walls that not only formed the sides of the canon, but which seemed to block their advance, for the course of the river was tortuous in the extreme, so much so, indeed, that they could but rarely see more than a few hundred yards in advance.

At length, and after they must have floated more than twenty miles, the canon of Gold Cave Creek entered the much greater and more sublime canon of Grand River.

Here the bed of the river was so much wider, that though there was more water in it, it flowed with a current that was calmness itself when compared with the fierce mountain torrent that had recently made the raft its plaything.

With a great sigh of relief, Wah Shin now proceeded to show that his knowledge of English had come back to him.

"Dees place no so belly bad likee dat place we way back alle come flom."

"This is Grand River," said Ulna, speaking for the first time, and seemingly as calm as if he were in a place of safety, as he added: "And further down all the canons of the Green and Grand rivers unite to form the mighty Colorado."

"I hope we may be able to land before we reach there," said Sam Willett, who had now discovered that by means of the pole he could steer the raft in the calmer water.

Even the dog regained confidence. Maj had been crouching down on the blankets, and wincing and trembling with fear, but he sat up when the smoother current was reached, and licked his lips and moved his tail in a way that left no doubt as to his approval of the changed condition of affairs.

But though the current of Grand River was slow as compared with that of Gold Cave Creek, it would be a mistake to imagine that it was at all stagnant.

The beds of all its tributaries were swollen at this time, so that the waters of Grand River were thirty feet above the average level and moving with a speed of four or five miles an hour.

Although continually watching for some place in which he could make a landing, it was not till near sunset that Sam found such a spot as he wanted.

The river soon widened out into a bowl-shaped valley, on the margin of which there were benches of dry ground, covered with stunted little cedars that gave a grave-yard appearance to the place.

By means of their poles Sam and Ulna succeeded in forcing the raft to the sh.o.r.e, where it was securely fastened, and Wah Shin and Ike sent up prayers of thanks, each after his fashion.

This arrangement had been made none too soon, for they had not finished removing the cargo from the raft when the black shadows of night seemed to rise up from the water, for the glow on the top of the canon walls showed that it was still comparatively light in the upper world.