did. Superstitious to the core, those who were left must have believed

this calamity could only be looked on as a manifestation of anger on the part of the Great Manitou, who doubtless held the strange boys, with the white skins, under his protection.

They made not the slightest attempt to rescue their unfortunate comrades, but, uttering cries of terror, vanished in the depths of the forest, doubtless carrying to their village a terrible story of what had occurred, to cause weeping and wailing among the lodges of the Flat Heads.

Still watching, the boys saw several figures climb up out of the agitated waters. They were in every instance the copper-colored natives, who went limping away, looking back in abject terror.

Though they watched closely, the boys could discover not the slightest trace of either of the renegades. The trees floated off, or remained there sunk in the water; but a close examination of the scene of the landslide convinced Dick and Roger they had surely seen the last of their bitter enemies.

The two boys could not express their emotion except by clasping each other's hands and squeezing them fiercely. Their safety had been brought about through no mortal agency; and it was not singular that they always looked upon the landslide as a miracle wrought in their interest.

Shortly afterwards, when Dick had taken his own gun, and Roger managed to get a load in his weapon, they heard the sound of voices, and some of the men from the camp appeared. Just as the boys had anticipated, they were led by brave Captain Clark.

Great was their amazement when they heard the wonderful story the lads had to tell. It seemed almost unbelievable, and yet there was the evidence before their very eyes, the gap in the river bank, the fallen trees, and even some of the Indian tomahawks on the ground where they had been cast when the remainder of the band fled in dismay from the fatal spot.

When Captain Lewis was told about it, he declared it to be the judgment of Heaven upon the heads of those two wicked men. They had sought to stir up the resentment of the Flat Heads against the little party, and, had their plans succeeded, the members of the expedition would be in constant danger of their lives during the whole of the coming winter.

As it was, the Indians must believe the white wanderers were under the protection of Manitou, and should not be harmed. Captain Lewis could see how a peace could be made with their leading chiefs, so that, for the months that were to come, the red men and their "paleface" brothers should live together as friends.

After all their trials and tribulations things seemed to be working in the boys' favor at last. With the disappearance of the scheming trader their greatest source of uneasiness had vanished. The future looked bright once more, and the boys felt they could sleep without fearing that something terrible hung over their heads.

That night was really the happiest they had all known for many months. The fact that they were close to the goal that had tempted them across the continent did much to bring smiles to the careworn faces of the voyagers.

"If all the accounts we've been able to pick up are correct," Dick told Roger that night, while they sat near the fire, the camp being well guarded every minute of the time, "we ought to reach our destination by the end of the second day, perhaps sooner."

"Which means we will be able to look out into the west and see nothing but the vast ocean," Roger added, with a contented sigh. "Well, I feel glad--yes, doubly glad, for Captain Lewis and Captain Clark."

"I understand why you say that, Roger. To us it means only that our curiosity will be satisfied; but think what they have risked to carry out the plan of the President! It will be the greatest day in their lives when they reach that ocean they have come thousands of miles to look upon."

"And think of all they have braved to win their end," added the other boy, his whole expression speaking his deepest admiration for the bold leaders of the exploring expedition.

Well might the boys say what they did. A thousand perils had waylaid those daring spirits, yet never once had they dreamed of giving up their plan. Over unknown trails, through dark canyons, across trackless plains and burning deserts, up mighty rivers with their strong currents and swirling rapids--all these and uncounted other dangers had spread out before them, but without daunting their souls.

No wonder then that the boy of to-day, who reads of this most wonderful journey ever undertaken in our great country, reveres the names of those two bold spirits who conducted the expedition to a successful finish.

With the coming of another day the journey was resumed. Even the weather seemed to have undergone a fit of repentance, for the skies were now as clear as crystal, and the rainy spell had evidently passed.

Early in the morning several of the men hastened to the place where the boys had been deceived by the decoy deer. They brought back the game, since none of the thoroughly alarmed Flat Heads had dared return for the carcass.

It was easily seen just how cleverly the animal's head had been fixed by means of stout sticks and deerskin thongs. The men also judged that it had been made to stand erect by the aid of other sticks skillfully concealed. On the whole, the boys concluded they had a story to relate that would arouse the greatest interest among the home folks, if ever they were fortunate enough to rejoin the family circle again.

Roger was glad that the remainder of the journey was to be made in the canoes, for his ankle pained him exceedingly, and he would have been unable to walk any distance without feeling much distress.

"You will have to take things easy for a while, after we get to our journey's end," Dick told him. "A sprained ankle is a bad job, and you may feel it for many weeks. I can look back and remember how long it took me to get over a wrenched ankle some years ago."

At that Roger laughed aloud.

"I haven't forgotten that time, either, let me tell you, Dick. We were off on a hunt when you tripped. How your ankle did swell up; it frightened me, I tell you! But that cold spring water helped a lot to take the swelling down."

"Yes, and I can see you now, staggering along with me on your back," continued Dick, bending a look of sincere affection upon his cousin. "That was the heaviest load you ever undertook to tote, I wager."

"But I got there, didn't I?" demanded the other, proudly, "winded though I was. And I made you a pretty fine crutch which you hobbled around on for weeks, not being able to put your foot on the ground."

Many times, as they talked, did these fond memories of the past arise to haunt them. The further they went from their well-loved homes the sharper the pictures seemed to become in their minds. Their dreams were mostly of those dear ones whose faces were forever before them, in the clear waters, while threading the mazes of the forest, or even looking out upon the glittering sands of the burning desert.

When, that afternoon, a halt was made, Captain Lewis cheered them with the announcement that there could be little doubt they would reach the mouth of the big river by the following night at the latest. Indeed, as the men had already discovered that the water was strongly impregnated with salt, they hardly needed this assurance to convince them that their long journey was on the eve of termination.

They gave the commander a hearty cheer, however, when he told them this welcome fact, then set about making what was certainly one of the happiest camps of the entire trip.

As usual the two boys talked things over while they sat resting after supper had been dispatched. Roger had sniffed the air several times, and he finally broke out with a declaration.

"There seems to be something queer in the air, Dick; something I've never before noticed in all my life. And to tell you the truth, I can make nothing of it."

"I may be wrong," Dick told him; "but, from all I've heard grandfather say, I think that must be the salty taste they say one can notice when the air comes straight off the sea. If that is so, it proves we are close to the mouth of the river right now."

After that Roger amused himself by sniffing the air many times. It seemed to give him fresh encouragement to have a silent but powerful proof carried by the night breeze to their river camp.

Taken in all, it was a rather restless night for some of the adventurers, and the boys in particular awoke many times, to sit up and listen. Once Dick even fancied he could hear a far-off, dull, booming sound that could hardly be thunder, since the stars were out, and not a cloud as big as his hand in sight.

"I wonder," the boy said softly to himself, with a feeling almost of awe, "if that can be the sea pounding on the shore. Grandfather has often told us how it makes a great noise when the tide is coming in, each wave running along and turning over as it breaks on the sand."

He even sat there for a long while listening, though thinking it best not to arouse Roger, who chanced to be sleeping at the time. Only when the strange sound died out, owing to a change of wind, or the turn of the tide, Dick consented once more to drop back in his blanket. But, when he did get to sleep again, his dreams were of the glorious triumph that awaited them close at hand.

The last day dawned, and the camp was early astir. Breakfast was hastily eaten, the small amount of boat packing attended to, and after that a start was made.

To-day the paddles were seldom idle. Spurred on by the hope of reaching their goal before darkness again intervened, the men were only too willing to work their passage. The swift current might be very well under ordinary conditions, but on this particular day it proved all too slow for their eager hearts.

They glimpsed Indians several times, but, strange to say, none of them manifested the antagonistic manner of those they had seen earlier in their trip down the Lewis and the Columbia rivers.

Roger, who had noticed the change in the demeanor of the natives, wondered what was the cause of it, and as usual applied to Dick for his opinion.

"They are of the same tribe," he remarked, "for by now I know the Flat Head way of wearing feathers in their scalp-locks. But they seem now to be afraid of us, for those in that dugout paddled frantically for the shore; and never an arrow comes our way now. Can you make it out, Dick?"

"The only thing I can think of," Dick replied, "is that word has been sent out everywhere that the 'paleface people' in the hide canoes are under the protection of Manitou, and that no harm must be done to them."

"Well," observed Roger, with a happy smile, "if we're going to be guarded by the Indian Manitou all winter, we needn't be afraid of anything. When you come to think of it, Dick, that landslide was the greatest thing that ever happened to us. It held back just long enough to let us pass, and then swallowed our enemies up."

Noon came and went.

The men were so eager now they hardly wished to land to have something to eat, though Captain Lewis insisted on it, for he knew they needed a rest.

Slowly the long afternoon passed, and, constantly on the move, the canoes swept along the current, urged by the muscles that seemed never to tire. Hope fought with a growing disappointment. Were they then, after all, to be cheated out of the anticipated triumph they had arranged for that night? Perish the thought! and, with that, the paddlers would dip deeper, and run a race to see which could hold the van.

The sun sank lower and lower, and every eye watched its race with almost the same anxiety as was shown when, centuries back, Joshua commanded the heavenly luminary to stand still in order that his army might wholly destroy the Philistines.

Dick and Roger concluded that, unless something happened inside of another hour, they would have to give up all hope of seeing the glad sight that day.

"We are about to turn a bend in the bank right below," Dick told Roger, "and, if all is well, perhaps we may see what we are yearning to look upon."

All possible speed was made in order to turn the point of land covered with trees, that jutted out into the river. Then from every throat arose a joyous shout that made the echoes ring. It was the very first white man's hurrah that was ever heard on the western side of the great American continent, north of the isthmus, since time began.

There lay the mouth of the Columbia River, and, looking beyond, they could see the boundless expanse of the Pacific, with the sun, that had beckoned them on all these thousands of miles, setting in a red blaze of glory.