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Show Hk H ilE, ' " gB I 9 S snr511er ras'e of the rapids, bad at rC LjSJ last died out behind the thick masses 5 f l?S r tho forcst as Barnes worked bis JPl way down the valley. The heat in the -fc"K windless underbrush, alive with in- uer's, was stifling. He decided to make once raoro 1 for tfie bank of the stream, in the hope that Its I- cbr racier might by this time have changed so as lo afford him an easier and more open path. Press-I Press-I I ing asido to his left, be presently saw the green J 1 jloom lighten before him. Blue sky and golden I j bgbt came low through the thinning trees; and J f 3icn a gleam of unruffled water. Ho was ncaring 3 the edge now; and because the underbrush was SI to thick about him he began to go cautiously. , It All at or.ee he felt his feet sinking; and the La 5 'crccn of thick bushes before him leaned away as Jf I r bowed by a heavy gusL Desperately he clutch- ; d with bcth hands at the undergrowth and sap- Ii 'ags on cither side; but they all gave way with ' l!m. In a smoihcr of leafage and blinding, lash-i:g lash-i:g branches he sar: downward at first, as it i jeenicd, slowly, for he had time to think many lalngs while his heart was imping in his throat. I'.) .'hen, shooting through tho lighter bushy com- ' anlons of his fall, and stiS. clutching convulsively $ jt thoso upon which ho had been able to lay his jj? f grasp, he plunged feet first Into a dark water. 2? The walcr was deep, and cold. Barnes wcntr gf :P flown straight, and clear under, with a strangled ' vasp. His feet struck, with some force, upon a J angled, yielding mass, from which he rose again I vith a spring. His head shot abovo the surface, it l ibove the swirl of foam, leafage, and debris; and iVi 6 jputleringly he gulped his lungs full of air. But t :) 5 i before he could clear his eyes or his nostrils, or 'ecovcr his self-possession, he was stealthily drag- fl ;ed down again. "With a pang of horror he real- ft . '.zed that he was caught by the foot. LJ , A powerful swimmer, Barnes struck out mightl- I ' ly with his arras and came to the surface again -J ' it once, ricing beyond the shoulders. But by so nuch the more was he violently snatched back I train. strzcc-'nc i-d desperate, beforo ho had ' lime to cjaptr hin lungs and catch breath. This i f time tho siccl; sobered-him, flashing the full peril I' the situctlcii before his startled consciousness. ; With a tremendous effort of will he stopped his C ngling, and contented himself with a gentle : " 1-dd.irg to keep upright. This time he came moio ; ) tf.Wv to tho surface, clear beyond the chin. Tho lian, and debris, and turbulence of llttlo waves, ) f?elhed about his lips, and the sunlight danced con- ' i':singl In his streaming, eyes; but he gulped a i 'rcsh lungful before he again went down. . ( Paddling wai'Ily now, he emerged again at once, ' ind, with arms outspread, brought himself to a ; ', precarious equilibrium, his mouih just clearing the lurface so long as he held his head well back. ; Keeping very still, he let his bewildered wits com- v osc thcmselrc- nd the agitated surface settle to ' i uiet. ' He mi K r. deep, tranquil cove, hardly stirred M y an edd , Some ten paces farther out from tho '' 'vore tho ;aln current swirled past sullenly, as If ' ca v frt the turbulence of falls and rapids. F '-crcrs tb ; current a little' space of sand-beach, ill S .!U:t; o t'trom the leafy shore, shone golden In ; ho r.u: Up and down the stream, as far as I j!s cr.i mcly restricted vision would suffer him A 1 'o see nothing but thick," overhanging branches, X md the sullen current. Very cautiously he turned i-l ' a Us head though to dp so brought the water ovor 1 "Jlc lips and saw behind him just what he ex- IO Jectcd. The high, almost perpendicular bank was B scarred by a gash of bright, raw, reddish earth, rl K-here tho brink had slipped away benaath his t I weight 0 i 1 Just within reach of I1I3 h'and lay, half sub- I merged, the thick, leafy top of a fallen poplar J- eapllng, Its roots apparently jhill clinging to tho bank. Gently he laid hold of A, testing It, In the 1 I hope that It might prove solid" enough to enable - im to haul himBelf out. But) It camo away In- G. D. Btantly In his grasp. And once more in this slight disturbance of his equilibrium, his head went under. un-der. Barnes was disappointed, but he was now absolutely abso-lutely master of himself. In a moment ho had re- gained the only position in which he could breatho comfortablj'. Then, because the sun was beating down too fiercely on the top of his head, he carefully care-fully diow the bushy, top of the poplar sapling into such a position that it gave him shade. As Its roots were- still aground, It showed no tendency to float off and forsake him in his plight. A very little consideration, accompanied by a cautious investigation with his fre'j loot, speedily convinced him, being a practical woodsman, that the trap in which ho found himself caught could be nothing else than a couple of interlaced, twisted branches, or roots, of some tree which had fallen into the pool In some former cavlng-in of tho bank. In that dark deep wherein his foot waa neld fast, his mind's eyo could see it all well enough the water-soaked, brown-green, slimy, Inexorable coll, which had vielded to admit the unlucky member, then closed upon the ankle like the jaws of an otter ot-ter trap. He could feel that grip not severe, but uncompromisingly firm, clutching the joint. As he considered, he began to draw comfort, however, from tho fact that his invisible captor had displayed display-ed a certain amount of give-and-take. This elasticity elastic-ity meant either that it was a couple of branches slight enough to be flexible that held him, or that the submerged tree itself was a small one, not too steadfastly anchored down. Ho would free himself him-self easily enough, he thought, as soon as ho should set himself about it coolly and systematical systemati-cal 1'. Taking a long breath he sank his head under the surface, and peered downward through the amber-brown but transparent gloom. Llttlo gleams of brighter light came twisting and quivering in from the swirls of tho outer current. Barnes could not discern the bottom of the pool, which was evidently evident-ly very deep: but ho could see quito clearly tho portion of the sunken tree In whoso interwoven branches he was held. A shimmering golden ray fell just on the spot where his foot vanished to tho ankle between two stout curves of what looked like slimy brown cables or sections of a tense snako body. It was, beyond question, a nasty-looking trap; and Barnes could not blink the fact that ho was In a tight place. Ho lifted his face abovo tho surface, sur-face, steadied himself carefully, and breathed deeply deep-ly and quietly for a couple of minutes, gathering strength for a swift and vigorous cfforU Then, filling his lung3 very moderately, tho better to cn-duro cn-duro a strain, ho stooped suddenly downward, deep into the amber gloom, and began wrenching with all his force at those oozy curves, striving to drag them apart. They gave a llttlo, but not enough to release the Imprisoned fool. Another moment and ho had to lift his head again for breath. After some minutes of rest, ho repeated tho choking struggle, but, as before, In vain. Ho could move the Jaws of tho trap just enough to encourage encour-age him a Utile, but not enough lo gain his rp-lease. rp-lease. Again and again he tried It again and again to fail just as ho imagined himself on the verge of success; till at last ho was forced, for tho moment, to acknowledge defeat, finding himself so exhausted exhaust-ed that he could hardly keep his mouth above water. Drawing down a stlillsh upright branch of tho sapling, ho gripped It betweon I1I3 teeth and so held himself upright whilo ho rested his arms. This was a relief to nerves as woll as muscles, because be-cause It made his balrfuce, on which ho depended for tho chrincc to breathe, &o much the less precarious. pre-carious. 13 ho hUDg there pondering, hold but a baro half , .. -? " inch abovo drowning, the desperatcnesc of the situation sit-uation presented Itself to him In appalling clearness. clear-ness. How sunny, and warm, and safe, to his woods-familiar eyes, l0Ql?ed the green forcst woild about him! No sound brbkc the mild tranquility of the solitude, except, now and then, an elfish gurgle gur-gle of tho slow current, or tc sweetly cheerful tsic-a-dee-dee of an unseen chickadee, or, from tho Intense blue overhead, iho abrupt, thin whistle of a soaring fishhawk. To Barnes it all seemed such a safe, friendly world, his well-understood Intimate sinco small boyhood. Yet hero it was apparently, turned smooth "itor at last, and about to destroy him as pitilesb!v rjs might the most scorching desert des-ert or blizzard-scourged Ice-fleJd. A silent rage burned 'suddenly through all his veins, which was well, since tho cold of that spiing-fed spiing-fed river had already Jbegun to finger stealthily about his heart. A delicate little pale-blue but-terfly, but-terfly, like a porIwInkierpetal come to life, fluttered The animal threw himself shoulder high from tho water and hurled himself with all jit strength. over Barnes' grim, upturned face, and went dancing Bayly out across the shining water, joyous in tho sun. In its dancing it chanced lo dip a hair's-brcjdlh hair's-brcjdlh too low. Tho treacherous bright surfaco caught It, held it; and away It swept, struggling In helpless consternation against Ibis unoxpected doom. Beforo it passed out of Barnc3' vision a . trout rose, and gulped It down. Its swift fate, to Barnes haggard eyes, seemed an analoguo In little lit-tle lo his own. But it was nol in the woodsman's fibre to aolcnowl-edge aolcnowl-edge hlmsoir aclunlly beaten, either by man or fate, so long as there remained a spark In' hia brain to keep his will alive. Ho prcsenth- b -r 3 CopyxtAjic I003 "by ""v 2jzjj. :s;2AJ7cvf.l ? searching with his eyes among tho branches of tho poplar sapling for ono stout enough to servo him for a lever. With tho right kind of a stick in -his hand, he told himself, he might manage to pry apart tho jaws of the trap and get his foot free. At last his cholco settled upon a branch that ho thought would servo his turn. Ho was just about to reach up and break It off, when a slight cracking in tho underbrush across the stream caught his ear. His rtoodsman's instinct kept him motionless as ho turned his eyes to the spot. In tho thick leafage leaf-age thero was a swaying, which moved quickly down along tho bank, but ho could not see what was causing it. . Softly ho drew down a leafy branch of tho sapling tilL it made him a perfect screen; then he peered up the channel to find out what the unseon wayfarer was following. A huge salmon, battered and gashed from a vain struggle to leap the falls, was floating, belly upward, up-ward, down the current, closo to Barnes' side of the stream. A gentlo eddy caught it, and drew-it drew-it Into tha pool. Softly it camo drifting dowri to ward Barnes' hidden face. Among the twigs of tho poplar sapling it camo to a halt, its great scarlet gills barely moving as tho last of life flickered out of it. Barnes now understood quito well that commotion commo-tion which had followod,' along shore, tho course of tho dying salmon. It was no surprise to him whatever, -when he saw a -huge black -bear einergo ' upon tho yellow sandspit and stand staring across tho current. Apparently, it was staring straight at , i Barnes face, upturned upon tho surface of the water. wat-er. But Barnes knew H was staring at thedead salmon. His heart Jumped slcklngly with sudden hope as an extravaennt nolion flsmhnrt intn 7.1k brain". Hero was his rescuer a perilous ono, to Td3-t sure vouchsafed to him by somo -whim of the InV IH scrutable forest fates. Ho drew dowri anotbeij' branchy twig beforo his face, fearful lest his cog- ' H cealment should not bo adequate. But In' bid eXjf ' citoment he disturbed his balance, and with, thdj ' H effort of. his recovery tho water swirled notlceabljj! H all about him. His heart sank. Assuredly, th'l H bear would tako aiarm at this and be afraid tq come for tho fish. H But to his surprise the great beast, -whlcb. laj IH seemed to hesitate, plunged impetuously into th$) stream. Nothing, according to a bear's knowledge of life, could have made that sudden disturbance in tho pool but somo fish-loving otter or mink, Ins , tent upon seizing the booty. Indignant at tho M prospect of being forestalled by any such furtlvs marauder, tho bear hurled himself forward with M such force that tho spray flew blgb into th M branches, and tho noiso.of his splashing was n clear notification that trespassers and meddler- had better keep off. That salmon -was his, by M right of discovery; and he was going to have it . The bear, for all tho seeming clumsiness of his H bulk, -was a redoubtable swimmer; and almost bo- H fore Barnes bad decided clearly on his proper course of action thoso heavy, grunting snorts and , vast expulsions of breath were at his ear. Enor- '-1 mously loud they sounded, shot thus close along & tho surfaco of tho -water. Perforce, Barnes mada .up his mind -on tho insttmt - - The bunch of twiawnicK-had arrestee! the ap- proach of tho floating salmon lay just about an arm's length from Barnes' face. Swimming high, - '1 his mighty shoulders thrust up a wave beforehim ' J which buried Barnes' head safely from view, tho 1 bear reached the salmon. Grabbing It triumphantly '1 in Its jaws, ho turned to make for shoro again. H This was Barnes moment. Both, arms shot out MHI beforo him. Through tho suffocating confusion hii clutching fingers encountered tho bear'a haunches'. Sinking into tho long fur, they, closed upon, It wltH jl n grip of steel. Then, instinctively, BarneS Bhufo his eyes and clenched his teeth, and! waited for thlj shock, whilo his lungs felt as If iri anothec mlnuttf j they would burst. ?i !i :;,-' 7? IH But It was no long timo ho had lo waif; perlfapa two seconds, while amazement iri the bear's brain, translated itself through panic into action, .Utterly; H horrified by thig unexplicablo attack from; (ho rear. tind from tho depths, tho animal throw himself: shoulder-high from the water, and hurled himself lH forward with all his strength. Barnes felt those'. H tremendous haunches heaving Irresistibly, beneath! his clutching fingers. Ho felt himself drawn; ouC IH straight, and dragged ahead till fio though his ari H klo would snap. Almost he camo to letting go, fd'' jH Bavo the ankle. But he held on, as much with his; jH will as with his grip. Then the slimy thinglaTEp I' depths gavo way. Ho felt himself being jerked but"J through tho water free. His fingers relaxed tholft clutch on the bear's fur, and ho camo. to tho surface ' gasping, blinking, and coughing. H For a moment or two ho paddled softly, recover-' ing his breath and shaking tho water from! ho3- H trlls and eyes. Ho had an InBtant of apprehen- slveuess, lest tho bear should turn upon him and attack him at a disadvantage; and by way, of pre- jl caution ho gave forth the most savage and piercing f yell that his laboring lungs were capable of. But H ( be saw at once that on this score ho had nothing to jl fear. It was a well-frightened bear, thero swim- niing frantically for tho sandspit; whilo the dead H salmon, quito forgotten, was drifting slowly away iH sullen current. H Barnes' foot was hurting fiercely, but his heart JB was light. Swimming at leisure, so as to just keep jB head against tho stream, ho walched the bear scut- tie out upon the sand. Once safe on dry land, tho il groat beast turned and glanced back with a timid H air to ceo what manner of being it was that had so asloundiugly assailed him. Man ho had sea IHl before, but never man swimming liko an otter; H and the sight was nothing to reassure him. Ono jH longiug look ho cast upon thcalmobPng H somo distanco away; but that, tohls fDd' H was just a luro of this terrifying an .0 fridlous H creature whoso bright gray eyes wcrb staring at ll him so stoadilv from tho surfaco of the water. Jin IH , turned quickly and made off into theVwoods, fol- , lowed by a loud, daunting laugh which spurred his jH pace to a panicky gnliop. &. H "WliQn he was gone, Barnes swam to thalsands- JH plL' 'There ho stripped, wrung out' his dripping jH clothes, and inj down in tho hot sand to Jot the JM |