leak appeared anywhere, I could not resist giving a
cheer, which was heartily taken up and echoed by our whole party--for we
had all assembled to watch the result.

"Now, Coppet, lend a hand at the winch. We'll open the sluice and
observe the force."

After a few turns our winch refused to move, and only a small part of
the opening had been uncovered, from which the water was squirting
furiously.

"Something wrong," said I, looking down at the men below. "Just take a
look, Salamander, and see what it is."

Our lively interpreter went down on hands and knees and made an earnest
examination, despite the squirting water.

"Oh! I sees. All right now," he shouted, "heave away!"

"Get out of the way, then," we cried, as we once more applied all our
force to the winch. It turned with unexpected suddenness, the sluice
flew up, and out came a straight column of water with extreme violence.
It hit Salamander full in the stomach, lifted him off his legs, and
swept him right down the gully, pitching him headlong over another
ledge, where he fell with such force that his mortal career had
certainly been ended then and there but for a thick juniper bush, which
fortunately broke his fall. As it was, he was little the worse of his
adventure, but he had learned a lesson of prompt obedience to orders
which he did not soon forget.

I now planned a sort of movable buffer by which the force of the
water-spout could be diminished or even turned aside altogether. It
acted very well, and, under its protection, we set up the saw and
started it. We were all assembled again, of course, at the first
starting of the saw, along with a good many of our red friends, whose
curiosity in our various proceedings knew no bounds.

Opening the sluice slowly, and fixing the buffer so as to turn at least
three-quarters of the furious water-spout aside, I had the extreme
satisfaction of seeing the saw begin to rip up a large log. It went on
splendidly, though still with somewhat greater force than I desired.
But, alas! my want of critical knowledge of engineering told heavily
against us, for, all of a sudden, the sluice broke. The buffer still
acted, however, and being needlessly strong, was, I thought, safe, but
the hinges of the thing were far too weak. They gave way. The violent
spout thus set free dashed against the wheel with its full force,
turning it round with a whirr-r-r! that sent the saw up and down so fast
as to render it almo