The Border Boys in the Canadian Rockies

ng as he should live was the picture they saw as they came in full view of the swirling, madly dashing torrent. Above a foam-flecked eddy, beyond which the ma

om its foothold beside the path on the depot[26] side of the torrent, reached out some twenty feet above the devil's caldron of the stream. The roots and the main part of the trunk rested

It was almost at the end of this frail support that the boy was clinging. Only his head and shoulders were above the water, which dragged malignantly at him, trying to tear loose his hold. It was plain at once that flesh and b

a mystery. But there he was, almost at the end of the slend

Ralph, using the first wo

lips move, but coul

aid the professor, whose face was ashen white under his tan. The

and get it out to h

aintain a foothold on th

on agent; "get on the bank further up[28] and allow

sor, hailing any solution of their qua

ck above. I'll g

man was off, racing up the rocky path

ouragingly, waving his hand. "We'

e of foam dashed over him. After what seemed an agony of waiting, but which was in real

said encouragingly, as he

to throw a rope like a cowboy on the Border, but this time either the feat was beyond his skill, or he was too unnerved to do i

st an out-cropping rock, and so give his overstrained arms some relief. Bu

e and try to drift it down stream. With a prayer on his lips, Ralph made the first cast. The rope fell on the wa

viciously swirling eddy caught it and sucked it under the surface. It beca

y. It was out of the question to get out on the slender, swaying end of the trunk to which young Simmons was clinging. Not one of them but was too heavy to risk it. And, in the ev

m!" panted Ralph

get the rope to him,

ess-I think[31] I can do it, prof

you mea

and get the rope out

bear your weight even if

into execution that the professor was at last forced

inced you are in danger," he commanded;

to his waist, he straddled the narrow trunk and gingerl

himself by a desperate effort, and then once more began his snail-like progress. The sight of Persimmons' blue lips and white cheeks, for in

lmost overbalanced by the force of the blow. The watchers on shore saw him strive wildly for an instant to recover his equilibrium, and th

or, as Ralph vanished, to reappear an instant lat

ne so, the[33] moment might have been his last, for even the strongest swimmer that

id the swiftly dashing stream suck at its victim that it was all they could do to get him ashore. Blue and shivering from cold, however

unspeakable relief, Persimmons still was clinging there. But even as they gave a shout of joy at the sight of him, another thought

3

is death before their very eyes? Was there nothing they co

swer to these questions

voice sounded harsh and rough as if his throat was as dry as

ere, if you'll gimme a chanct, b

utes, they had forgotten as completely as if he had never existed. But now

him, if you'll gimme a