were ridin' un, an' ridin' un from choice," said Ed, with the
air of one who had a story to tell.

"No you weren't never ridin' un. What un tell such things for, Ed?"
broke in Dick. "Un has dreams an' tells un for happenin's, I'm
thinkin'."

Ed ignored the interruption as though he had not heard it, and
proceeded to relate to Bill his wonderful adventure.

"Once," said he,--"'twere five year ago--I were waitin' at my lower
tilt for th' break-up t' come, an' has my boat hauled up t' what I
thinks is a safe place, when I gets up one mornin' t' find th' water
come up extra high in th' night an' th' boat gone wi' th' ice. That
leaves me in a rare bad fix, wi' nothin' t' do, seems t' me, but wait
for th' water t' settle, an' cruise down th' river afoot.

"I'm not fancyin' th' cruise, an' I watches th' ice an' wonders, when
I marks chance cakes o' ice driftin' down close t' shore an' touchin'
land now an' agin as un goes, could I ride un. Th' longer I watches un
th' more I thinks 'twould be a fine way t' ride on un, an' at last I
makes up my pack an' cuts a good pole, an' watches my chance, which
soon comes. A big cake comes rollin' down an' I steps aboard un an'
away I goes.

"'Twere fine for a little while, an' I says, 'Ed, now _you_ knows th'
thing t' do in a tight place.'

"'Twere a rare pretty sight watchin' th' shore slippin' past, an' I
forgets as 'tis a piece o' ice I'm ridin' till I happens t' look
around an' finds th' cake o' ice, likewise myself, in th' middle o'
th' river, an' no way o' gettin' ashore. The's nothin' t' do but hang
on, an' I hangs.

"Then I sees th' Gull Island Rapids an' I 'most loses my nerve. 'Tis a
fearsome torrent at best, as un knows, but now wi' high flood 'tis
like ten o' unself at low water. Th' waves beats up twenty foot high."

Ed paused here to light his pipe which had a way of always going out
when he reached the most dramatic point in his stories. When it was
finally going again, he continued:

"Lucky 'twere for me th' rocks were all covered. In we goes, me an'
th' ice, an' I hangs on an' shuts my eyes. When I opens un we're
floatin' peaceful an' steady below th' rapids, an' I feels like
breathin' agin.

"Then we runs th' Porcupine Rapids, an' I begins t' think I has th'
Muskrat Falls t' run too which would be th' endin' o' me, sure. But I
ain't. I uses my pole, an' works up t' shore, an' just as we gets th'
rush o' th' water above th' falls, I lands.

"That were how I