“If you hadn’t secured the fish some robber eagle might,” declared Dick. “Many a time have I sat and watched one of those bald-headed pirates, perched on a dead limb of a tree, too lazy to pounce down and get a dinner for himself, and only waiting until a hawk flew off with its prize, when, after the other bird, would start the eagle, and ten times out of eleven he was bound to play the robber game.”
“Yes,” added Roger, “I’ve seen the poor hawk mount high in the air, trying to escape; but with the eagle in hot pursuit. In the end the fish would drop, and the eagle follow after it, snatching his dinner from the air long before it could strike the earth; just as I can let a stone fall, and then overtake it with my hand before it lands.”
It was on the second day after this incident that the boys, who were ahead of the others, were heard giving glad yells. The secret of all this joy was soon made manifest, for they had really arrived at the junction of the Lewis with the Columbia, as they immediately called the majestic stream that, with a swift current, ran to the west, and flowed out into the sea.
All their hopes, so long delayed, seemed now on the eve of realization; and there were no despondent hearts in the camp when night again found them.
It was with satisfaction that they looked out upon the noble stream, in the belief that the confidence which President Jefferson had felt in their ability to overcome all difficulties on the road had now been justified.
It was just a day afterward that Roger found a chance to strike his first salmon with the Indian spear. He and Dick had gone ashore at a likely-looking spot where a small tributary entered the river. The character of the ground emboldened Roger to believe he might run across some of the places such as the Indians loved to frequent when fishing after their peculiar style.
He found that he could creep along and look down upon the water five or six feet below, where the shadows were dense, and the passage of a silvery salmon would seem like a ray of sunlight.
Here the boy waited, crouching silently, just as he imagined the expert Indian fish-spearers were wont to hang. And presently Dick, who was watching close by, saw him make a furious jab with his spear. Following this, Roger struggled desperately, and then dragged up a magnificent fish, floundering at the end of the spear.
This he repeated twice more, when they had enough for the whole party. That was certainly a red letter day in the life of Roger, and one he was not likely soon to forget.
More days passed, and they were constantly descending the majestic river, now unusually high on account of the recent heavy rains. Twice they were compelled to cut short their day’s trip in order to seek shelter from a downpour; and, after such a recent experience of the dry and arid strip of country stretching out toward the foot of the Rocky Mountains, they hardly knew what to make of such weather.