Which
expedient should he adopt? He chose the latter, preferring
to risk death from water rather than from tomahawk or
bullet.
The boat was pushed from the shore and exposed to the full
force of the current. In a minute or two it had swept beyond
the range of the Indian weapons. But death seemed
inevitable. The water rushed on in foaming torrents,
whirling round rocks, sweeping over shelves, pouring down in
abrupt falls, shooting onward with the wildest fury. It
seemed as if only a miracle could save the voyagers.
Yet with unyielding coolness Putnam grasped the helm; while
his keen eye scanned the peril ahead, his quick hand met
every danger as it came. Incessantly the course of the boat
was changed, to avoid the protruding rocks. Here it was
tossed on the billows, there it shot down inclined reaches,
now it seemed plunging into a boiling eddy, now it whirled
round a threatening obstacle; like a leaf in the tempest it
was borne onward, and at length, to the amazement of its
inmates themselves, and the astoundment of the Indians, it
floated safely on the smooth waters below, after a passage
of perils such as have rarely been dared. The savages gave
up the chase. A man who could safely run those rapids seemed
to them to bear a charmed life.
[Illustration: SHORE OF LAKE GEORGE.
Pages:
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133