The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, 1925-11-10
CHAPTER K. (Continued)

VIM In ~. \~oIItAnoeO/
1t was a hellish place; it echoed
% detnoniac din and it was a tre-
nendous sensation to brave it. for
he boat did not glide nor slip down
he descent it went in succession
If jarring leaps; it lurched and
visited; it rolled and plunged as If
n demcnted effort to unseat its
passengers and scatter its cargo. 10
the occupants it seemed as If its
Joints were opening, as if the boards
themselves were being wrenched
loose from the ribs to which they
were nailed The men were
drenched, Of course, for they trav-
cled in a cloud of spume; their feet
were ankle deep in cold water, and
every new de!uge caused them to
gasp.
How long it lasted Pierce Phillips
never knew; the experience was too
terrific to be long lived. 1t was a
nightmare, hideous phantasma-
goria of irightful sensations, a dis
solving stcrcopticon Of bleak, scud-
ding walls, Of hvdrophobic boulders
frotllins madly as the flood crashed
over them. Of trcachcrous whirlpools,
and Of pursuing breakers that
reached forth licking tongues OF de-
struction. Then the river opened,
the cliffs fell away, and the torrent
spewe ed itself out into an cxpansc OF
whirlpools--a lake OF gyratlng fun
ncls that varied with one another
and threatened to twist the keel from
Under the boat.
'Poleon swung close in to the right
bank. where an eddy raced up
against the food; some ore flung a
rope from the shore and drew the
boat in.
wal! never had no better
crew." cried the pilot. What you
tink of i'm, eh?" He smiled down
at the white-lipped oarsmen, who
leaned forward, painting and drip
ping.
"Is-that all of it," Lucky Broad
inquired, weakly
"Mais non! Look! Dere's Wife
'Orsc.' Doret indicated wall of
foam and spray farther down the
river. Directly across the expanse
Of whirlpools stood village named
after the rapids. you get plenty
more bimeby."
"You're wrong. got plenty right
now" Broad declared.
Pm glad the Countess didn't
come" said Phillips.
When the men had wrung out their
clothes and put on their boots they
set out along the back trail over the
bluffs.
Danny Royal was not an magma
i've person. He possessed, to be
sure, the superstitions of the aver
age horscman and gambler, and he
believed strongly in lunches, but he
was not fanciful and he put no faith
in dreams and portcnts. It bothered
him exceedingly, therefore, to dis
cover that he was weighed down by
an understandable but extremely op-
pressive sense of apprehension. How
or why it had come to obsess him
he could not imagine, but for some
reason Miles Canon and the stormy
waters below it had assumed terrible
potentiali,ics and he could not shake
off the conviction that they were
destined to prove his undoing. This
feeling he had allowed to grow until
now fatalistic apathy had settled
upon him and his usual cheerfulness
was replaced by 4 senseless irritable
ity. He suffered explosions of tenn
per quite as surprising to the kirbys,
father and daughter, as to himself.
On the day of his arrival ne was
particularly ugly. wherefore Rou-
letta was impelled to demonstrate
with him.
What ails you, Danny?" she in
quired. You'll have our men
quitting"
Il wish they would" he cried.
"Boatmen! They don't know as
much about boats as me and Sam"
They do whatever they're told"
Royal acknowledged this fact I'm
graciously. Trouble IS we don't
know what to tell EN- to do. All
Sam knows is "eee' and 'haw, and
can't steer anything that don't wear
a bride. Why, if this river wasn't
fenced in with trees we'd have taken
the wrong road and been lost, long
ago."