CHAPTER XXI. WHAT CHRISTMAS EVE BROUGHT

     "I pried the boat loose, jumped in as she swung clear, and 
     pulled with all my might, headed toward the centre of the 
     river. I was almost clear when I was drawn over a dip, bow 
     first, and struck a glancing blow against another rock I had 
     never seen. There was a crash, and the boards broke like 
     egg-shells. It was all done in a few moments. The Edith 
     was a wreck, I did not know how bad. My brother had 
     disappeared. Lauzon was frantically climbing over some large 
     boulders trying to reach the head of the next rapid, where 
     the boat was held in an eddy. My boat was not upset, but the 
     waves were surging through a great hole in her side. She was 
     drawn into an eddy, close to the base of the wall, where I 
     could tie up and climb out. It seemed folly to try the lower 
     end with my filled boat. Climbing to the top of the rock, I 
     could see half a mile down the canyon, but my brother was 
     nowhere to be seen and I had no idea that he had escaped. I 
     was returning to my wrecked boat when Bert waved his arms, 
     and pointed to the head of the rapid. Going back once more, 
     I saw him directly below me at the base of the sheer rock, 
     in an opening where the wall receded. He had crawled out 
     twenty feet above the next rapid. Returning to my wrecked 
     boat, I was soon beside him. He was exhausted with his 
     struggle in the icy waves; his outer garments were frozen. I 
     soon procured blankets from my bed, removed the wet clothes, 
     and wrapped him up. Lauzon, true to our expectations of what 
     he would do when the test came, swam out and rescued the 
     Defiance before she was carried over the next rapid. He 
     was inexperienced at the oars and had less than two hours 
     practice after he had joined us. It was a tense moment when 
     he started across, above the rapid. But he made it! Landing 
     with a big grin, he exclaimed, 'Young fellows, business is 
     picking up!' then added, 'And we're losing lots of good 
     pictures!'"

     "These experiences were our Christmas presents that year. 
     They were not done up in small packages."

     "We repaired the boat on Christmas day. Three smashed side 
     ribs were replaced with mesquite, which we found growing on 
     the walls. The hole was patched with boards from the loose 
     bottom. This was painted; canvas was tacked over that and 
     painted also, and a sheet of tin or galvanized iron went 
     over it all. This completed the repair and the Edith was 
     as seaworthy as before."