“We had better sleep in the tepee,” he remarked, “for the night will be cool and [[95]]the air damp in the deep shaded valley near the river.
“To-morrow, my sons,” he added, “we must push our canoe with a pole or drag it on a rope, and in some places we must carry it, for it is a league from here to the big falls and the water is very swift all the way and many rocks have rolled into the river from the hills.”
That evening Ray lay awake a long time listening to the talk of the river, which gurgled and bubbled, roared and rushed and rippled past the camp, as if a crowd of living men or spirits talking in a strange language were for ever and ever marching past the camp.
Then the lad was bold enough to turn aside the tepee-flap and step out into the night. If Tawny had not come out with him, he would have been afraid. A strange sight met his eyes. Above the stream, which now looked uncanny and forbidding, hung a fog which in the moonlight looked like a long gray cloud. Patches of moonlight [[96]]lay bright on the trail and the high tree tops on the hills opposite stood out in bold relief, while the tree trunks near by stood like black spectres. A big owl was hooting in the distance. Or was it the howling of a wolf? And some small creature rushed from the trail into the thicket.
The spookiness of the moonlight night seized Ray. He turned and walked quickly back to the tepee, crept under his blanket, head and all, and, listening again to the talk of the river, he soon fell asleep. [[97]]
CHAPTER XII
BEGINNING THE SEARCH
Ray was surprised next forenoon at the ease with which Ganawa managed their journey up-stream. For the greater part of the distance the old Indian knelt in the stern of the canoe, and by means of a pole steered and pushed the craft safely past many rocks and through much swift water, while Bruce walked along the south bank and pulled on a long rope. In a few places they lifted the canoe out of the water and carried it a short distance over land. Ray, with his gun and his dog, walked along the trail as if he were furnishing the safe conduct for the two canoeists. Although Ganawa and Bruce worked the canoe up-stream with great caution, they nevertheless made such good progress that they reached the great whirlpool at the foot of the falls during the forenoon. [[98]]
The falls of the Michipicoten have the character of a mountain cataract. The water does not drop over a projecting cliff as it does at Niagara, but in some half dozen turns and twists it rushes down a steep cliff of granite. Over the last step the water rushes at an angle which makes a mad whirlpool, in which the water turns and turns like a caged animal that is vainly looking for an escape from its prison. At certain stages of the water, the outflow from the whirlpool seems to come entirely from below, while the whirling surface water will hold logs and other objects in its grip for days to leave them finally stranded on the rocks. When the water is at this stage, even the lumbermen find it at times impossible to break the whirling and milling movement of the logs.