usion
that if they met there would be a battle.

The river, to be sure, separated them, but the logs were at times so
densely packed that it was possible for a daring lad to run far out into
the river, shoot his arrow and return to shore, leaping from log to log.
The Reitan party was the first to begin this sport, and an arrow hit
General Viggo's hat before he gave orders to repel the assault.

Cool and dignified as he was, he could not consent to skip and jump
on the slippery logs, particularly as he had no experience in this
difficult exercise, while the enemy apparently had much. Paying no heed
to the jeers of the lumbermen, who supposed he was afraid, he drew his
troops up in line and addressed them as follows:

"Soldiers: You have on many previous occasions given me proof of your
fidelity to duty and your brave and fearless spirit. I know that I can,
now as always, trust you to shed glory upon our arms, and to maintain
our noble fame and honorable traditions.

"The enemy is before us. You have heard and seen his challenge. It
behooves us to respond gallantly. To jump and skip like rabbits is
unmilitary and unsoldierlike. I propose that each of us shall select two
large logs, tie them together, procure, if possible, a boat-hook or an
oar, and, sitting astride the logs, boldly push out into the river. If
we can advance in a tolerably even line, which I think quite possible,
we can send so deadly a charge into the ranks of our adversaries that
they will be compelled to flee. Then we will land on the east side,
occupy the heights, and rout our foe.

"Now let each man do his duty. Forward, march!"

The lumbermen, whose sympathies were with the East-Siders, found this
performance highly diverting, but Viggo allowed himself in nowise to be
disturbed by their laughter or jeers. He marched his troops down to
the river-front, commanded "Rest arms!" and repeated once more his
instructions; then, flinging off his coat and waistcoat, he seized a
boat-hook and ran some hundred yards along the bank of the stream.

The river-bed was here expanded to a wide basin, in which the logs
floated lazily down to the cataract below. Trees and underbrush, which
usually stood on dry land, were half-submerged in the yellow water,
and the current gurgled slowly about their trunks with muddy foam and
bubbles. Now and then a heap of lumber would get wedged in between the
jutting rocks above the waterfall, and then the current slackened, on