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FRITZ AND HIS CAJACK 243 |
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with applause. He seated himself with great gravity, his brothers pushed him off down the sandy beach, and the cajack glided into the water with inconceivable rapidity. The surface of the bay was calm, and soon the Greenlander was dancing gaily over the waves; then, like a skilful actor, he began executing a series of evolutions. Sometimes he would shoot off far out of our sight; then suddenly he would disappear in a cloud of foam, to the great terror of his mother ; in another moment we saw his head above the floods, and an oar upraised to show his triumph.
At last he turned his frail bark toward Jackal River, and attempted to mount the current, but this proved too strong for him, and threw him back so violently that he disappeared from our sight. To jump into the canoe and fly to his assistance was the work of a moment. Jack and Ernest went with me, and we were growing uneasy when, suddenly, in the direction of a rock just visible through the foam, I saw a light cloud of smoke, which was shortly followed by a report.
I fired my pistol, which was instantly answered by another report in the same direction. After a hard row we perceived Fritz, and in a quarter of an hour we reached him. |
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