Lost in the Barrens by Farley Mowat Read Free Book Online

canoe.
    The little lake was soon crossed, and then a few miles of swift and violent river brought them to the maze of islets and channels Awasin had seen from the breakfast camp. There was little current here and the boys threaded their way among bare, rounded islands.
    At length they emerged into another fairly narrow lake whose northern end was out of sight. Awasin anxiously scanned the shores ahead, seeking signs that other men—Eskimos—had passed this way. But all was still.
    The day had swelled into a brilliant, cloudless morning with a cool south wind blowing over the plains. To the west, the shape of Deer Mountain loomed larger and closer, so that it did not seem more than ten or fifteen miles away. Jamie noticed this and commented: “If Denikazi had come down the Kazon he could have got to Deer Mountain in half the time.”
    Awasin let this remark pass. He knew that Denikazi had been wise. The boys were now deep into Eskimo country while Denikazi was safely to the west. “We are foolish to take the chance,” Awasin thought. And in that moment he made up his mind that no matter what Jamie thought of him, he would see to it that they went no farther than the end of the lake on which they found themselves.
    â€œIf we don’t find that Stone House by afternoon, weturn back!” he said aloud. “We have come downstream fast enough, but going back will be another story. We’ll be lucky if we get back in less than two days.”
    Jamie recognized the note of decision in Awasin’s voice. He sighed and said, “I guess you’re right. If we don’t find the place by suppertime, we’ll call it quits.”
    And then it seemed as if the Barrens themselves decided to play on Jamie’s side. The south wind began to grow stronger and before long was strong enough to fill a sail. Jamie strung up a blanket on a paddle and the canoe fairly scudded down the lake. Even Awasin forgot his doubts in the exhilaration of flying before the rising wind.
    Within an hour the boys could see the end where the lake narrowed sharply and once again became a river. Neither boy suggested taking down the sail. In fact the lake faded almost imperceptibly into the river and the current began so slowly and easily that the boys hardly noticed it. Filled with the enjoyment of the sail, they held their course around a projecting point of land.
    As Awasin sent the canoe leaping around the point, Jamie, in the bow, gave a sudden cry of warning.
    A scant hundred yards ahead, and stretching from bank to bank, was a wild cataract. The waters leaped downhill with vicious fury, curling and boiling over hundreds of sharp granite ledges that thrust up through the foam like the blades of knives. There was no channel anywhere to be seen in that chaos of rock and water. The whole world ahead was a roaring nightmare of destruction!
    Sucked into the hungry current, the canoe was at theedge of the abyss almost before the boys could catch their breath.
    â€œThe sail!” Awasin screamed.
    Through the roar of water Jamie could not hear, but acting instinctively he was already struggling with the blanket. In his frenzy he lost his balance; the paddle-mast tipped overboard dragging the blanket with it. The waterlogged blanket acted as an anchor and instantly began to swing the bow of the canoe around so that the boys were going down the rapid broadside on. Awasin frantically drove his paddle into the rocks in an effort to hold the stern until the bow could swing downstream again, but he could get no grip. The canoe swung more and more until it was completely broadside to the current and rushing furiously down upon the first granite ledge.
    Jamie felt a sudden jarring blow and the next instant he was flung into the cataract. His head struck an exposed rock, and he knew nothing more for a long time.
    Awasin was luckier. As the canoe crunched against the rocks like a matchbox under a hammer, Awasin managed to jump