Slowly the long afternoon passed, and, constantly on the move, the canoes swept along the current, urged by the muscles that seemed never to tire. Hope fought with a growing disappointment. Were they then, after all, to be cheated out of the anticipated triumph they had arranged for that night? Perish the thought! and, with that, the paddlers would dip deeper, and run a race to see which could hold the van. The sun sank lower and lower, and every eye watched its race with almost the same anxiety as was shown when, centuries back, Joshua commanded the heavenly luminary to stand still in order that his army might wholly destroy the Philistines. Dick and Roger concluded that, unless something happened inside of another hour, they would have to give up all hope of seeing the glad sight that day. "We are about to turn a bend in the bank right below," Dick told Roger, "and, if all is well, perhaps we may see what we are yearning to look upon." All possible speed was made in order to turn the point of land covered with trees, that jutted out into the river. Then from every throat arose a joyous shout that made the echoes ring. It was the very first white man's hurrah that was ever heard on the western side of the great American continent, north of the isthmus, since time began. There lay the mouth of the Columbia River, and, looking beyond, they could see the boundless expanse of the Pacific, with the sun, that had beckoned them on all these thousands of miles, setting in a red blaze of glory. CHAPTER XXXII TO THE RISING SUN--CONCLUSION ON the following day the flag of the United States floated from the green hills of Columbia Bay. And, when the adventurers had become thoroughly rested, they began to discuss the matter as to where they would stay during the coming winter. Just what sort of severe weather they might expect none of them, of course, knew. In those early days nothing was understood with reference to the famous warm Japan ocean current, which does for the Pacific coast what the Gulf Stream accomplishes for much of our eastern shore, as well as for Europe. So cabins were finally built, in which they hoped to keep fairly comfortable, and by degrees a supply of meat was laid, in for consumption during the winter, if the cold should be prolonged like a Canadian season. They soon found that the Indians meant to be friendly, and all fear of trouble from this source was laid to rest. As the days and weeks crept on they explored some of the surrounding country, and even tried to make rude maps of it to show when they returned East. Dick and Roger did their full share in everything that went on. Much of the meat that was dried that winter, in order to provide a supply on the return trip over the mountains and down the Missouri, fell before their guns.