But they were powerful swimmers, and, but for the nearness of the rapids, they could have afforded to laugh at their mishap2. As it was, Terry Clark shouted, as he blew the muddy water from his mouth:
"What a sinsible young gintleman I was to lave me gun on the other side."
"We both would have been much more sensible had we left ourselves there," rejoined Fred, who was struggling with might and main for the land in front; "there's no time, Terry, to waste in talk; we've got to swim as never before, for nothing else will save us."
The other seemed to rouse to his peril3, for he made the only wise response he could—which was putting forth4 every atom of strength and skill that he possessed5 in the effort to breast the furious torrent6.
It is singular how often the slightest advantage turns the scale for life or death. At the moment the canoe was smashed and capsized Terry Clark was seated some six or eight feet nearer the shore toward which they were paddling than was Fred Linden, and this difference remained when the two went into the water and began swimming. The Irish lad was fully7 as skillful as the other, and he did not lose an inch of the gain thus given him.
They were near the middle of the stream when the catastrophe8 took place. Of course they would have done better had they been without any clothing, but there was no time to remove any of that, and beyond question the two made the most gallant9 kind of a fight for life.
Fully aroused to his peril, Terry swam with amazing power, his lips compressed and his eyes fixed10 on the land in front, which seemed quite near, and yet was never so hard to reach. The lad had proven by repeated tests that he could swim faster on his left side then in any other position. He quickly flung himself over and used his arms and legs like one who knew fully the stake for which he was contending.
By this recourse he actually gained on Fred, who continued to breast the water with all the strength at his command. Terry was hopeful, and now that he was fully roused, he did not waste his strength in shouting to his companion. As he advanced in his crab-like fashion, he frequently flirted11 his face around so as to look in front, and thus to keep aware of his progress.
"I'm doing well, and will make it," was his thought; "I hope Fred will be as fortynate as mesilf."
An important point was gained by swimming on his left side; his face was turned up stream, and he caught sight of the floating timber quicker than when advancing with his face toward the land. Thus it came about that he97 saw a plunging12 tree, or log, similar to that which had destroyed the canoe, and when it was fully as close to him.
Like a flash, Terry dove, intending to pass clean under it. He could not know any thing about the portion beneath the surface, and was a little startled when he found himself among leaves and a lot of small branches; but he swam with the same vigor13 and skill when below as when above the surface, and quickly fought his way through, rising on the other side a considerable distance nearer land.
But he gasped14 with terror, for during the brief period he lost a great deal more than he gained. A furtive15 glance to the left showed him the mist and spray flying high in air, as the muddy waters were tossed to and fro by the rocks below: he was fearfully close to them.
But he was also close to land, and he saw his chance; indeed, his only one. A tree growing out toward the creek16 curved downward so that the lower part of the trunk was within a few inches of the water. A short time before the current had washed against it, but was now falling away from it.
The portion which inclined downward like a bow was several feet from shore, and some distance below him. It will be seen, therefore, that the thing for him to do was to bend all his efforts toward reaching that. If he could advance far enough to allow the current to sweep him beneath, or quite close to the tree, he could grasp it and save himself.
"That's what's got to be done," was his conclusion the instant he saw the crooked17 tree; "or it's good-by to Terry Clark and his rifle."
He would succeed; he saw it the next moment. The curving tree seemed to be sweeping18 up stream with frightful19 swiftness, but at the right second Terry, by a supreme20 effort, threw himself partly out of the water, and flinging both arms around the trunk, which was no more than six inches in diameter, he held fast.
The strain was great, and he felt his fingers slipping over the shaggy bark, but he held on like grim death, and by a skillful upward hitch21 of his body, locked his fingers above the trunk, and was safe; he was then able to hold double his own weight.
His next move was to throw his feet around the trunk, when it was an easy matter for him to twist himself over on top, where he was as secure as lying on his own trundle bed in the cabin at home.
The instant his own safety was secured his whole soul was stirred by anxiety for Fred Linden, who, he knew, was placed at more disadvantage than he. Since he was further from shore than was he, and since the latter had been able to save himself only by a hair's breadth, it was clearly beyond the power of Fred to escape in the same manner—though it might be that there was some other remote chance for him.
The first glance that Terry cast over the muddy waters showed him his friend, swimming manfully for shore, but so far out in the stream that it was impossible for him to reach it before passing into the grip of the rapids.
"It's no use," called out Fred, in a voice in which there was no tremor22 or shrinking; "I'm bound for the rapids, and here goes."
And deliberately23 facing about, he swam coolly in the direction of the boiling waters as though he were bathing in a still lake.
"Be the powers, but he is plucky," muttered Terence, thrilled by the sight; "if he can get through there alive, I'll be proud of him!"
The rapids, of which I have made mention several times, were caused by a series of irregular rocks, extending a hundred yards, in the space of which the stream made a descent of a dozen or twenty feet. At ordinary times the creek wound languidly around these obstructions24, forming many deep, clear pools of water, that afforded the best kind of fishing. There was so much room for the current that there was no call for it to make haste.
But you can understand how different it was when the creek was swollen25 by violent rains. It then dashed against the rocks, was thrown back, plunged26 against others, whirled about and charged upon still others, by which time it was a mass of seething27 foam28, with the spray flying high in air, and a faint rainbow showing through the mist when the sun was shining. After fighting its way between and around and over these obstructions, the current emerged at the bottom one mass of boiling foam and dancing101 bubbles, which continued for several hundred feet before the effects of the savage29 churning that the water had received could be shaken off.
Now, it would be idle to say that these rapids were as dangerous as the famous whirlpool below Niagara Falls; for it would not only be untrue, but it would shut me out from taking Fred Linden safely through them: for I am bound to do that, since he is too good a fellow to sacrifice at this early stage of my story, and you would not forgive me for doing so.
But all the same the danger was great, and was enough to cause the bravest man to shrink from attempting the passage. Fred would have been glad to shrink from going through, but since that was beyond his power he did the wisest course—faced about and kept his wits with him.
There was one consolation—the suspense30 could last but a few moments; he was sure to emerge from the lower falls within the space of a minute, whether alive or dead.
The first object that caught his eye was his broken canoe. Naturally it was but a short distance below him, though it had gained a little while he was struggling so hard to make land. It was turned on its side, spinning sometimes one way and then whirling the other, according to the whim31 of the current; then sea-sawing up and down, until all at once it shot upward like a huge sturgeon, which sometimes flings its whole length out of the water.
Another point must be named that was gained by this facing about of Fred Linden. Since he was going with the current he kept pace with every thing else that was afloat, and he was therefore in no danger from the trees and branches that had caused him so much, and, in fact, nearly all his trouble.
At the moment he was about to enter the boiling rapids he found himself partly entangled32 in the branches of a large uprooted33 tree that was dancing about in a crazy fashion.
"This may help to shield me from being dashed against the rocks," was his thought, as he seized hold of a thick limb close to the point where it put out from the trunk; "at any rate I don't see that it can make matters any worse."
The act of Fred Linden in grasping the limb saved his life. The next moment he was whirled hither and thither34, half strangled with foam, head now in air, now beneath the surface, his body grazing the jagged rocks by the closest possible shave, and all the time shooting forward with dizzying rapidity, until at last he emerged into the calmer water below as well and hearty35 as he ever was in all his life.
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1
exclamation
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| n.感叹号，惊呼，惊叹词 | |
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mishap
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| n.不幸的事，不幸；灾祸 | |
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peril
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| n.(严重的)危险；危险的事物 | |
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forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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torrent
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| n.激流，洪流；爆发，(话语等的)连发 | |
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7
fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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8
catastrophe
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| n.大灾难，大祸 | |
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gallant
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| adj.英勇的，豪侠的；(向女人)献殷勤的 | |
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fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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flirted
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| v.调情，打情骂俏( flirt的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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12
plunging
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| adj.跳进的，突进的v.颠簸( plunge的现在分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降 | |
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13
vigor
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| n.活力，精力，元气 | |
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14
gasped
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| v.喘气( gasp的过去式和过去分词 )；喘息；倒抽气；很想要 | |
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furtive
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| adj.鬼鬼崇崇的，偷偷摸摸的 | |
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16
creek
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| n.小溪，小河，小湾 | |
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crooked
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| adj.弯曲的；不诚实的，狡猾的，不正当的 | |
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sweeping
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| adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的 | |
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frightful
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| adj.可怕的；讨厌的 | |
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supreme
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| adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的 | |
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hitch
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| v.免费搭(车旅行)；系住；急提；n.故障；急拉 | |
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22
tremor
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| n.震动，颤动，战栗，兴奋，地震 | |
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deliberately
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| adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地 | |
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obstructions
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| n.障碍物( obstruction的名词复数 )；阻碍物；阻碍；阻挠 | |
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25
swollen
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| adj.肿大的，水涨的；v.使变大，肿胀 | |
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plunged
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| v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降 | |
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seething
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| 沸腾的，火热的 | |
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foam
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| v./n.泡沫，起泡沫 | |
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savage
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| adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人 | |
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suspense
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| n.（对可能发生的事）紧张感，担心，挂虑 | |
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whim
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| n.一时的兴致，突然的念头；奇想，幻想 | |
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32
entangled
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| adj.卷入的；陷入的；被缠住的；缠在一起的v.使某人（某物/自己）缠绕，纠缠于（某物中），使某人（自己）陷入（困难或复杂的环境中）( entangle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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33
uprooted
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| v.把（某物）连根拔起( uproot的过去式和过去分词 )；根除；赶走；把…赶出家园 | |
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thither
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| adv.向那里；adj.在那边的，对岸的 | |
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35
hearty
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| adj.热情友好的；衷心的；尽情的，纵情的 | |
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