The men looked at one another in dismay; and also at the raging, hissing river that seemed to mock them in their misfortune. “It’s awful,” David said at last. “The rope snapped and the raft is lost.” Miguel sat down on the sand and covered his face with his hands. “It was our last chance.” He was almost sobbing. “And now that’s gone.” David, too, was far from cheerful. Their hopes had been dashed to pieces; their enthusiasm had been killed; their work had been for nothing. Once again fate, in the guise of the merciless river, had conspired against them. The strain under which they had labored began to make itself felt. They could endure but so much and the limit was in sight. “Say, this will never do.” The speaker was David. He had regained mastery over himself. “Our chance is as good as it ever was. We can make another raft. Maybe it’s a good thing this one broke away. We must make the ropes stronger. It is a warning to us.” Miguel looked up, and, encouraged, David continued in a cheerful manner. “It won’t take so long this time either, because we know how to go about it. And listen, the water may continue to rise and then the going will be better than ever.” “It may fall, too,” Miguel ventured half-heartedly. “Of course. If it does, we’ll just have to wait. It will _have_ to rise again sometime. There’s enough to eat here, so why should we worry?” It was three days later that the second raft was ready. This time they did not launch it until the morning of the start. The water had fallen somewhat but after a thorough discussion of the matter, they decided to chance the passage through the rapids. They loaded their small stock of meat and palm buds, tied the packages down securely, stepped aboard the floating platform and pushed away from the bank. The raft drifted slowly and steadily toward the center of the stream. Then the currents, coming from each side, caught it, carrying it along at a rapidly increasing rate of speed until they were flying along at a terrific pace. So far the water had been fairly smooth though swift. But ahead of them was a ruffled stretch, the surface dotted with rocks that showed a few inches of their height while the angry waves and back-washes told of other, invisible obstructions of a still more formidable nature. The raft began to lurch so violently that its two occupants lost their footing and fell flat on the ribbed surface. There they clung while the floating platform spun and tossed madly at the mercy of the flood, for the two men were now powerless to steady it with the long poles they had carried for that purpose. Grating noises told them when they scraped over partly submerged obstacles and there was an occasional shock and sudden halt when they collided with rocks. But the current always swung the raft to one side and swept it away in its thundering embrace.