I Put The Girl On Shore, And Endeavoured To Shape
My Passage Home.
But this I found was no easy task.
The water was
rough, and the wind high, and the strong current, which runs through
that part of the lake to the Smith rapids, was dead against me. In
vain I laboured to cross this current; it resisted all my efforts,
and at each repulse I was carried farther down towards the rapids,
which were full of sunken rocks, and hard for the strong arm of a
man to stem - to the weak hand of a woman their safe passage was
impossible. I began to feel rather uneasy at the awkward situation
in which I found myself placed, and for some time I made desperate
efforts to extricate myself, by paddling with all my might. I soon
gave this up, and contented myself by steering the canoe in the path
that it thought fit to pursue. After drifting down with the current
for some little space, until I came opposite a small island, I
put out all my strength to gain the land. In this I fortunately
succeeded, and getting on shore, I contrived to drag the canoe so
far round the headland that I got her out of the current. All now
was smooth sailing, and I joyfully answered old Jenny's yells from
the landing, that I was safe, and would join her in a few minutes.
This fortunate manoeuvre stood me in good stead upon another
occasion, when crossing the lake, some weeks after this, in company
with a young female friend, during a sudden storm.
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