The Living Forest (Classic Reprint)

Excerpt from The Living ForestPresently the paddles dipped and we Were under way. Soon the shores changed. The rocky outcroppings grew larger, and more numerous too, and rising high and higher they at last formed two fortresses that stood one on either side of the stream. Yet they leaned so close together that they squeezed the river into a perfect fury. Between the upper end of a rocky island and the mainland on our right a big tree hung horizontally. Beneath the tree glided a gleaming, squirming lane of water that reminded me of a gigantic snake racing into its hole.Suddenly the canoe turned to the right, and into that hole we swept with a rush. A moment later everyone ducked his head as we glided under the hanging tree. The canoe now began swerving this way and that - like a ship without a rudder. Hill looked back with anger. I, too, glanced behind. It wasn't What I saw, but What I didn't see that startled me. Our steersman had dis appeared. Instantly Hill bellowed something in Indian. Quick as a flash an old man grabbed the spare steering paddle and worked with might and main.Now down a steeper slope we flew like an express train through a canyon. Trees and rocks went flying by. Spray hit us like buckshot. Perpendicular walls of rock on either side made landing impossible. Ragged boulders appeared above the foam and threatened to sink us. Suddenly we struck a submerged rock that bellied up the bottom of our canoe, cracked her ribs, and ripped her Open. Now We were sinking.About the PublisherForgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.comThis book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.