Sahwah screamed aloud when she saw the peril in which she was.  Nyoda and Mrs. Evans and the girls, standing up on the rocks, turned and saw her.  Help was out of the question.  Frozen to the spot they saw her rushing along to that descent of waters.  Gladys moaned and covered her face with her hands.  Below the falls the great rocks jutted out, jagged and bare.  Any boat going over would be dashed to pieces.

The Keewaydin shot forward, gaining speed with every second.  The roar of the falls filled Sahwah’s ears.  Not ten feet from the brink a rock jutted up a little above the surface, just enough to divide the current into two streams.  When the Keewaydin reached this point it turned sharply and was hurled into the current nearest the shore.  On the bank right at the brink of the falls stood a great willow tree, its long branches drooping far out over the water.  It was one chance in a million and Sahwah saw it.  As she passed under the tree she reached up and caught hold of a branch, seized it firmly and jumped clear of the canoe, which went over the falls almost under her feet.  Then, swinging along by her arms, she reached the shore and stood in safety.  It had all happened so quickly the girls could hardly comprehend it.  Gladys, who had hidden her eyes to shut out the dreadful sight, heard an incredulous shout from the girls and looked down to see the Keewaydin landing on the rocks below, empty, and Sahwah standing on the bank.

“How did you ever manage to do it?” gasped Hinpoha, when they had surrounded her with exclamations of joy and amazement.  “You’re a heroine again.”

“You’re nothing of the sort,” said Nyoda.  “It was sheer foolhardiness or carelessness that got you into that scrape.  A girl who doesn’t know enough to keep out of the current isn’t to be trusted with a canoe, no matter what a fine paddler she is.  I certainly thought better of you than that, Sahwah.  I never used to have the slightest anxiety when you were on the water, I had such a perfect trust in your common sense, but now I can never feel quite sure of you again.”

Sahwah hung her head in shame, for she felt the truth of Nyoda’s words.  “I think you can trust me after this,” she said humbly.  “I have learned my lesson.”  She was not likely to forget the horror of the moment when she had heard the water roaring over the dam and thought her time had come.  Sahwah liked to be thought clever as well as daring, and it was certainly far from clever to run blindly into danger as she had done.  She sank dejectedly down on the bank, feeling disgraced forever in the eyes of the Winnebagos.

“Girls,” said Mrs. Evans, wishing to take their minds off the fright they had received, “do you know that we are not many miles from one of the model dairy farms of the world?  I could take you over in the car and bring you back here in time to go home in the launch.”