“Both the bears we have met were in a stew!” joked Case.
“And they had us in the stew with them, too,” Alex replied.
So the boys cooked bear meat, made biscuits out of flour and baking powder, and ate dinner. Then they washed and put away the dishes and got ready for the exciting run ahead of them.
“We don’t know what is below the rapids,” Clay suggested, as the boat under full power, shot out of the pool and took the center of the stream, “but we’re likely to find out right soon. Keep by the motors. Case, to see that nothing goes wrong with them, and you, Alex stand by the prow with your pole, and we’ll break the speed record for motor boats of our class. It doesn’t make any difference how fast we go here if we don’t strike obstructions. We’ll be through all the quicker.”
The boys were agreeably surprised at the ease with which the journey through the rapids was made. The Rambler rocked frightfully, at times, but the high speed at which she was going kept her in fairly good water, under the influence of the helm.
In a very few minutes she lay in a basin below the cataract. The water ran swiftly in the basin, of course, for the great mass above was forcing it on, but there were no obstructions and no dangerous eddies.
The whole valley to left and right appeared to be under water clear up to the foot of the hills. The boat was kept under motion until the light began to die out, and then tied up to a tree in a dell which had been dry only the day before.
“Now,” Case said, switching on the lights in the cabin, “I’m going to celebrate the escape of Hairbrained Alex by making a batch of bread. Real bread, I mean, of hops and white flour. If I eat any more pancakes I’ll be as flat, mentally, as they are physically.”
“I don’t believe even the bear or the dog will eat bread you make,” said Alex, “but you might make some. We may be able to use it for an anchor. Go ahead, Case, and I’ll catch a fish for supper.”
“Where’s your oven?” asked Clay. “We can bake biscuit under a pan on top of the coal stove, but there are no pans on board the right size to fit over a couple of loaves of bread. They are too large or too small. We neglected to buy an oven.”