There came a day when, ahead of them, they heard a dull sound that thrilled every heart. The falls of the Columbia must be at hand, where they would be compelled to make a portage with the canoes and their cargoes.
Roger would have liked to strike out and be the first to get within seeing distance of this natural wonder, but Dick curbed his impatience.
“Better hold back and keep near the rest,” he advised. “We none of us know anything about the falls, and from the Indians we’ve heard they are very dangerous. They even claim that a bad spirit is chained under the water, and always ready to overturn the canoe of any venturesome brave who ventures too near.”
The current was becoming furiously swift, and Captain Lewis, like the wise leader he was, advised that all the boats make for the shore. It required considerable sturdy work to effect this, for they had already gone further down than discretion fully warranted.
All would have gone well except for an unfortunate accident. The paddle which Roger was using had been cracked a little recently; indeed he had just that morning discovered the flaw, and declared he must lose no time in making a new one.
When Roger worked he did it with all his vim and energy; consequently there was a greater strain on his paddle than would have been the case had Dick, for instance, been handling it.
Feeling the savage pull of the fierce current the boy even put a little extra strength into his labor, which was a hazardous thing to do, considering the circumstances.
Dick, methodically handling his own blade, was suddenly thrilled to hear his comrade give vent to a cry of dismay. As he looked up he saw Roger holding the fragment of a paddle in his hands. The treacherous blade had broken just at the most critical time possible. They were held fast in the grip of a current which Dick, with his single paddle, could never succeed in combatting; and just below them the roar of the falls sounded, while they could see the foam-capped waves, that announced the beginning of the rapids, just ahead of their drifting canoe!