by Mayne Reid
CHAPTER V
"CAST AWAY"
Of course, the reports of the guns must have frightened any other swansthat were near. It was not likely they would find any more before goingsome distance farther down the river; so, having stowed away in a safeplace the two already killed, the hunters paddled rapidly onward.
They had hardly gone half-a-mile farther, when another flock of swanswas discovered. These were approached in a similar way, and no less thanthree were obtained--Francois making a remarkable shot, and killing withboth barrels. A little farther down, one of the "hoopers" was killed;and still farther on, another trumpeter; making in all no less thanseven swans that lay dead in the bottom of the canoe!
These seven great birds almost filled the little craft to the gunwales,and you would think that our "torch-hunters" ought to have been contentwith such a spoil; but the hunter is hard to satisfy with game, and buttoo often inclined to "spill much more blood" than is necessary to hiswants. Our voyageurs, instead of desisting, again set the canoe inmotion, and continued the hunt.
A short distance below the place where they had shot the last swan, asthey were rounding a bend in the river, a loud rushing sounded in theirears, similar to that produced by a cascade or waterfall. On firsthearing it, they were startled and somewhat alarmed. It might be a"fall," thought they. Norman could not tell: he had never travelled thisroute; he did not know whether there were falls in the Red River or not,but he believed not. In his voyage to the South, he had travelled byanother route; that was, up the Winnipeg River, and through Rainy Lakeand the Lake of the Woods to Lake Superior. This is the usual andwell-known track followed by the _employes_ of the Hudson's BayCompany; and Norman had travelled it.
In this uncertainty the canoe was brought to a stop, and our voyageursremained listening. The noise made by the water was not very distant,and sounded like the roaring of "rapids," or the rush of a "fall." Itwas evidently one or the other; but, after listening to it for aconsiderable time, all came to the conclusion that the sound did notproceed from the Red River itself, but from some stream that emptiedinto it upon the right. With this belief they again put the canoe inmotion, and glided slowly and cautiously onward.
Their conjecture proved to be correct. As they approached nearer, theyperceived that the noise appeared every moment more and more to theirright; and presently they saw, below them, a rapid current sweeping intothe Red River from the right bank. This was easily distinguished by thewhite froth and bubbles that were carried along upon its surface, andwhich had evidently been produced by some fall over which the water hadlately passed. The hunters now rowed fearlessly forward, and in a fewmoments came opposite the _debouchure_ of the tributary stream, when aconsiderable cascade appeared to their view, not thirty yards from theRed River itself. The water foamed and dashed over a series of steps,and then swept rapidly on, in a frothy current. They had entered thiscurrent, and were now carried along with increased velocity, so that theoarsmen suspended operations, and drew their paddles within the canoe.
A flock of swans now drew their attention. It was the largest flock theyhad yet seen, numbering nearly a score of these noble birds,--a sight,as Norman informed them, that was exceedingly rare even in the mostfavoured haunts of the swan. Rarely are more than six or seven seentogether, and oftener only two or three. A grand _coup_ was determinedupon. Norman took up his own gun, and even Lucien, who managed the sternoar, and guided the craft, also brought his piece--a very smallrifle--close to his hand, so that he might have a shot as well as theothers.
The canoe was directed in such a manner that, by merely keeping its headdown the stream, it would float to the spot where the swans were.
In a short while they approached very near the great birds, and ourhunters could see them sitting on the water, with upraised necks, gazingin wonder at the torch. Whether they sounded their strange note was notknown, for the "sough" of the waterfall still echoed in the ears of thecanoe-men, and they could not hear aught else.
Basil and Norman fired first, and simultaneously; but the louderdetonations of Francois' double-barrel, and even the tiny crack ofLucien's rifle, were heard almost the instant after. Three of the birdswere killed by the volley, while a fourth, evidently "winged," was seento dive, and flutter down-stream. The others mounted into the air, anddisappeared in the darkness.
During the time occupied in this manoeuvre, the canoe, no longer guidedby Lucien's oar, had been caught by some eddy in the current, and sweptround stern-foremost. In this position the light no longer shone uponthe river ahead, but was thrown up-stream. All in a downward directionwas buried in deep darkness. Before the voyageurs could bring the canoeback to its proper direction, a new sound fell upon their ears thatcaused some of them to utter a cry of terror. It was the noise ofrushing water, but not that which they had already heard and passed. Itwas before them in the river itself. Perhaps it was a cataract, and_they were sweeping rapidly to its brink_!
The voice of Norman was heard exclaiming, "Hold with your oars!--therapids!--the rapids!" At the same time he himself was seen rising up andstretching forward for an oar. All was now consternation; and themovements of the party naturally consequent upon such a sudden panicshook the little craft until her gunwales lipped the water. At the sametime she had swung round, until the light again showed the stream ahead,and a horrid sight it was.
Far as the eye could see, was a reach of foaming rapids. Dark points ofrocks, and huge black boulders, thickly scattered in the channel, juttedabove the surface; and around and against these, the water frothed andhissed furiously. There was no cataract, it is true--there is none suchin Red River--but for all purposes of destruction the rapids before themwere equally dangerous and terrible to the eyes of our voyageurs. Theyno longer thought of the swans. The dead were permitted to float downunheeded, the wounded to make its escape. Their only thought was to stopthe canoe before it should be carried upon the rapids.
With this intent all had taken to the oars, but in spite of everyexertion they soon found that the light craft had got within theinfluence of the strong current, and was sucked downward more rapidlythan ever. Their backward strokes were to no purpose.
In a few seconds the canoe had passed over the first stage of therapids, and shot down with the velocity of an arrow. A huge boulder laydirectly in the middle of the channel, and against this the currentbroke with fury, laving its sides in foaming masses. The canoe washurried to this point; and as the light was again turned up-stream, noneof the voyageurs could see this dangerous rock. But they could not haveshunned it then. The boat had escaped from their control, and spun roundat will. The rock once more came under the light, but just as the canoe,with a heavy crash, was driven against it.
For some moments the vessel, pressed by the current against the rock,remained motionless, but her sides were stove in, and the water wasrushing through. The quick eye of Basil--cool in all crises of extremedanger--perceived this at a glance. He saw that the canoe was a wreck,and nothing remained but to save themselves as they best might. Droppingthe oar, and seizing his rifle, he called to his companions to leap tothe rock; and all together immediately sprang over the gunwale. The dogMarengo followed after.
The canoe, thus lightened, heeled round into the current, and swept on.The next moment she struck another rock, and was carried over on herbeams. The water then rushed in--the white bodies of the swans, with therobes, blankets, and implements, rose on the wave; the blazing knotswere spilled from the pan, and fell with a hissing sound; and a fewseconds after they were extinguished, and all was darkness!
