But the man in the other boat, thinking, doubtless,
that we were attempting a race, added his efforts to the current of the
channel. I am afraid that I said some words below my breath scarcely
proper to be spoken in the presence of maidens and a clerk in holy
orders. Roscoe was here, however, a hundred times more sailor than
parson. He spoke in low, firm tones, as he now and then suggested a
direction to Ruth Devlin or myself. Our boat tossed and plunged in the
rapids, and the water washed over us lightly once or twice, but we went
through the passage safely, and had turned towards the Slide before the
other boat got to the rocky archway.
We rowed hard. The next minute was one of suspense, for we saw the boat
shoot beneath the archway. Presently it emerged, a whirling plaything in
treacherous eddies. The man wildly waved his arm, and shouted to us. The
women were grasping the sides of the boat, but making no outcry. We could
not see the faces of the women plainly yet. The boat ran forward like a
race-horse; it plunged hither and thither. An oar snapped in the rocks,
and the other one shot from the man's hand.
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