It was quite time, as Brace found on getting his eyes well opened, for the boat was tugging at her moorings, the awning rigged up overnight for shelter was close up among the leafage beneath a bough of the tree to which the rope was made fast; and, instead of the water upon which they floated being like that of a placid lake as it had seemed overnight, it was now rushing rapidly by the boat's sides. "What is the meaning of this?" asked Brace excitedly. "Storm up in the hills somewhere," replied Lynton gruffly. "Water's rising fast." "Mind what you're about there, Dellow, or you'll be capsized," shouted the captain to the first mate. "Make all snug, and keep the boat clear of the trees." "Ay, ay, sir," came from the other boat, and a few minutes later the mooring-lines were cast off, while the men in each boat lay on their oars, and then as they began to drift swiftly with the rushing waters, a few strokes were given to get well clear of all overhanging branches before the grapnels were let go, but refused for some minutes to get a sufficiently good hold of the bottom. Finally, however, they caught, plenty of line was let out, and they swung head to stream, dividing the water that rushed by and sending it off in elongated waves. "That's better," said the captain; "but we must be ready, for I doubt whether these little grapnels will hold long." "Why not let the boats go?" said Brace. "It's all interesting to glide along a fresh river." "Because we may be swept no one knows where, my lad. Steering's hard work in such a rapid as this. Besides, we may get into bad company-- uprooted trees, floating islands of weeds, and all sorts of things that would make nothing of capsizing us. No; it will be best to wait here till the flood begins to fall. I daresay you gentlemen can manage to amuse yourselves somehow." "I daresay we can," said Briscoe, lighting up one of his long cigars to have as an early breakfast; "but isn't this all wrong?" "What?" said the captain sharply, for he was fully upon his mettle in a position which called for all his care. "What's all wrong?" "Why, the way the water runs. It's just the opposite way to which it was going yesterday." "That's right," replied the captain; "but it's coming down one or other of the rivers we came to last night with a rush and piling up faster than the main stream will carry it off. It must go somewhere, and some of it rushes along here. Strikes me that the whole country will be under water soon. Look, it's rising fast up the tree-trunks. We shall have to take great care, or we shall be drawn right in among the trees." "Ah, that would be awkward," said Briscoe drily, "to find the water suddenly go down and leave the boats up in the tree-tops like a couple of big birds' nests." "Ahoy! Look out, Dellow!" yelled the captain. "Stand by, my lads, to shove her off, or she'll break us away. Hah! I thought so."