"And if the current took control, Mr. Stane? Please believe me when I say I am not afraid—but I cannot help thinking of those falls you mentioned."
Stane looked thoughtful. For the moment he had forgotten the falls, and as he remembered the quickening of the current at the meeting of the rivers he recognized there was reason in the girl's question.
"There are risks, of course," he said. "The alternative to the river is to tramp through the wood."
"Then I vote for the alternative," replied Helen with a little laugh. "I've had my full of drifting like a fly caught in an eddy."
Stane looked down the river and from the river to the woods which lined its banks.
"It will be difficult," he said. "This is virgin forest."
"Pooh," retorted the girl lightly. "You can't make me afraid, Mr. Stane. Ever since I left Edmonton with my uncle's party I've wanted to rough it—to know what the wilderness really is. Now's my chance—if you don't deprive me of it."
In spite of the seriousness of the situation, Stane laughed.
"Oh, I won't deprive you of it, Miss Yardely. We'll start after breakfast; but I warn you, you don't know what you are in for."
"Job's comforter!" she mocked him laughingly. "I'm going to fill the kettle. A cup of tea will cheer you up and make you take a rosier view of things."