CHAPTER XXVIII

AT THE FALLS OF THE COLUMBIA

"I HOPE you don't think I'm discouraged, Dick, because so far no fish has come near my hook?" remarked Roger, when the time came to wrap their blankets around them and seek rest.

"Oh! I know you too well to believe that," replied the other. "From now on I expect to see you doing your best to land a prize. Sooner or later success is bound to come, Roger."

"I know it," was the confident way the other spoke; "because I've always made it my business to stick to the old motto, 'If at first you don't succeed, try, try again.' And even if the fish refuse to look at my bait I've got that spear, you remember. One of these days I'll find a chance to launch it, and bring up a salmon worth looking at."

Dick always liked to hear Roger talk that way. It was his constancy that in the past had won him many a battle; for Roger had a stubborn streak in his nature and would come back again and again to make new attempts. As the water by everlasting dripping will wear away a stone, so this "never-say-die" spirit often won out in the end.

Nothing disturbed the slumbers of the travelers during that first night upon the bank of the Lewis River. They started again early in the morning, for, now that the end of their journey was almost in sight, a fever began to possess them to cover the ground as rapidly as possible.

New sights opened up to their gaze with every mile of progress made. The paddles dipped into the clear water, and the sunlight, falling on the drops dripping from the blades, made each one resemble a glittering diamond.

After their life spent on the muddy Missouri it was a great pleasure to Dick and Roger to find themselves upon a stream where they could in places look down for many feet, and see the stones on the bottom, so transparent was the water.

As they floated along, waiting for the others to catch up with them, the boys' favorite amusement was to lie still, and, looking over the gunnel of their hide canoe, watch the small fishes darting to and fro; or thrust a paddle at some clumsy turtle that had come up to see what sort of object this floating log could be.

It was not always as pleasant as this, however, for one day they had a downpour of rain that caused them to make hurriedly for the shore, and get their tents up with as little delay as possible.

The storm continued all of the following day, and an unusual amount of rain for that time of year descended. After that the water was not so clear as before, the boys noticed. There were also places where they discovered landslides had occurred, sections of the bank having slipped into the rising river.

"It's a good thing we picked out a camp site where the ground was firm," Roger observed, as they passed such a slide on the next day, and saw what a terrible thing it had been.

Dick was ready to agree with what his companion said. He shrugged his broad shoulders and shook his head.

"It would have proved a bad job for us, I take it, Roger, if we had been camping on this spot. Think of having the ground slip from under you while you sleep; and of awaking to find yourself struggling in the river. Yes, we were lucky to be on firm ground while the rain lasted."

"The days keep passing along," mused Roger, "and so far I haven't been able to take a single salmon. And only this morning I'm sure I saw one jump out of the water after some sort of insect. If only I knew what kind of fly it was I might be able to coax one of the big fish to come to time."

"It is near the end of October, too," Dick remarked, "and any day now Captain Lewis says he expects that we must reach the lower river."

"And, after that, all we have to do is to let the swift current carry us along to the sea; eh, Dick?"

"Our only remaining danger will come from the Flat Head Indians who live along the banks of the broad river. Then we must remember, you know, Roger, that there is a great fall somewhere below us. The Nez Perces Indians told us they make a noise like thunder when the water is high, as it is after so much rain."

"Of course we must keep on the watch for the fall, Dick; I give you my word for it, I have no desire to be carried over the brink in one of these frail little hide canoes. It would be smashed on the rocks below, and, as for us, we might not know what had happened."

"Just watch that fish hawk hovering over that place in the river, meaning to snatch up his dinner when he gets ready. There's the champion fisher for you, Roger. If that bird could only talk he could tell you all about the habits of these wary salmon that so far you haven't succeeded in catching."

"There he goes!" cried Roger, excitedly. "Oh! what a splash he made! And, Dick, look at him trying to get up again! It's all he can do to rise, beating his wings like a crazy thing. See the fish the fellow has fastened his claws on, Dick. There goes a salmon, I do believe, the very first we've seen!"

The big fish hawk was indeed having a hard battle trying to fly with such a large fish in its talons. It fluttered its wings, and still could not manage to get more than twenty feet above the water.

As it turned toward the bank, doubtless meaning that, if compelled to release its hold on the glittering prize, the fish should fall upon land where it could be eaten at leisure, Roger gave vent to another exclamation.

"When it gets off the river I'm going to shout, and see if I can frighten the hawk into letting that fish drop," he observed, eagerly.

"I'll join with you, then," agreed his chum.

A few seconds later, Roger made a signal with his paddle at which both of them gave forth a startling yell. Surely enough, the sudden discordant sound startled the fish hawk, and it immediately let its prize go.

"There, it landed on the bank!" cried Roger. "Quick! let's paddle ashore before it flops back into the river again. Oh! my first salmon seems to be coming to me from the air after all!"

Reaching the bank, Roger sprang ashore, and presently came back, carrying his capture by inserting a finger in the gill. It was indeed a salmon, though only of a comparatively few pounds weight, and nothing compared to myriads they were fated to see later on.

"Enough to make a supper for both the captains, and ourselves in the bargain!" explained the triumphant Roger. "And I want to say that never before did I pull in a fish from the air. That's a new way of doing it, Dick. I'll never see an industrious fish hawk after this but that I'll think of what happened to-day."

"If you hadn't secured the fish some robber eagle might," declared Dick. "Many a time have I sat and watched one of those bald-headed pirates, perched on a dead limb of a tree, too lazy to pounce down and get a dinner for himself, and only waiting until a hawk flew off with its prize, when, after the other bird, would start the eagle, and ten times out of eleven he was bound to play the robber game."

"Yes," added Roger, "I've seen the poor hawk mount high in the air, trying to escape; but with the eagle in hot pursuit. In the end the fish would drop, and the eagle follow after it, snatching his dinner from the air long before it could strike the earth; just as I can let a stone fall, and then overtake it with my hand before it lands."

It was on the second day after this incident that the boys, who were ahead of the others, were heard giving glad yells. The secret of all this joy was soon made manifest, for they had really arrived at the junction of the Lewis with the Columbia, as they immediately called the majestic stream that, with a swift current, ran to the west, and flowed out into the sea.

All their hopes, so long delayed, seemed now on the eve of realization; and there were no despondent hearts in the camp when night again found them.

It was with satisfaction that they looked out upon the noble stream, in the belief that the confidence which President Jefferson had felt in their ability to overcome all difficulties on the road had now been justified.

It was just a day afterward that Roger found a chance to strike his first salmon with the Indian spear. He and Dick had gone ashore at a likely-looking spot where a small tributary entered the river. The character of the ground emboldened Roger to believe he might run across some of the places such as the Indians loved to frequent when fishing after their peculiar style.

He found that he could creep along and look down upon the water five or six feet below, where the shadows were dense, and the passage of a silvery salmon would seem like a ray of sunlight.

Here the boy waited, crouching silently, just as he imagined the expert Indian fish-spearers were wont to hang. And presently Dick, who was watching close by, saw him make a furious jab with his spear. Following this, Roger struggled desperately, and then dragged up a magnificent fish, floundering at the end of the spear.

This he repeated twice more, when they had enough for the whole party. That was certainly a red letter day in the life of Roger, and one he was not likely soon to forget.

More days passed, and they were constantly descending the majestic river, now unusually high on account of the recent heavy rains. Twice they were compelled to cut short their day's trip in order to seek shelter from a downpour; and, after such a recent experience of the dry and arid strip of country stretching out toward the foot of the Rocky Mountains, they hardly knew what to make of such weather.

There came a day when, ahead of them, they heard a dull sound that thrilled every heart. The falls of the Columbia must be at hand, where they would be compelled to make a portage with the canoes and their cargoes.

Roger would have liked to strike out and be the first to get within seeing distance of this natural wonder, but Dick curbed his impatience.

"Better hold back and keep near the rest," he advised. "We none of us know anything about the falls, and from the Indians we've heard they are very dangerous. They even claim that a bad spirit is chained under the water, and always ready to overturn the canoe of any venturesome brave who ventures too near."

The current was becoming furiously swift, and Captain Lewis, like the wise leader he was, advised that all the boats make for the shore. It required considerable sturdy work to effect this, for they had already gone further down than discretion fully warranted.

All would have gone well except for an unfortunate accident. The paddle which Roger was using had been cracked a little recently; indeed he had just that morning discovered the flaw, and declared he must lose no time in making a new one.

When Roger worked he did it with all his vim and energy; consequently there was a greater strain on his paddle than would have been the case had Dick, for instance, been handling it.

Feeling the savage pull of the fierce current the boy even put a little extra strength into his labor, which was a hazardous thing to do, considering the circumstances.

Dick, methodically handling his own blade, was suddenly thrilled to hear his comrade give vent to a cry of dismay. As he looked up he saw Roger holding the fragment of a paddle in his hands. The treacherous blade had broken just at the most critical time possible. They were held fast in the grip of a current which Dick, with his single paddle, could never succeed in combatting; and just below them the roar of the falls sounded, while they could see the foam-capped waves, that announced the beginning of the rapids, just ahead of their drifting canoe!