Page:Rowland--In the shadow.djvu/33

 "There's no danger, but if we were to be swept down against it we'd have trouble to get clear of the thing; the current would jam us up against it." He thrust the punt to the other bank of the stream, shoving the bow against the turf which lined the water's edge.

"It is quite wet," said Giles. "Let me get them for you." He stepped ashore and made his way along the side of the steep bank.

Virginia, left alone, vexed and angry more with herself for her petulance, was suddenly seized by one of the mad caprices to which she was sometimes a victim. With the willful intention of provoking Giles, she picked up the punt pole and shoved the boat a few yards from the bank. Although familiar with the art of handling such craft, she had not properly estimated the force of the current; before she realized it, the stern of the punt was being swung swiftly down stream. Startled, she decided to forego her pleasantry, but discovered, when she tried to arrest her course, that the water was far stronger than she. A swifter eddy caught the boat, turning it completely about, while at the same moment she drifted clear of the bend and saw a hundred yards below a forbidding line of stakes through which the current was setting swiftly.

Abreast of her, on the bank, Giles was gathering the flowers, his back turned to the river.

"Giles!" she called, frightened and forgetting her pride.

Giles took in the situation at a glance; he saw that the current was setting away from his side of the stream.

"Push straight across to the other bank!" he called.

Virginia, now thoroughly alarmed, tried her best to 23