e stream than to haul them back up the
stream."

"What do you have them so far up the stream for?" asked Bobby.

"Because there's more room--the river widens out there."

Bobby said nothing for some time, and Mr. Orde confessed within himself
a strong doubt as to whether or not the explanation had been understood.

"Papa," demanded Bobby, "I don't see how you tell your logs from Mr.
Proctor's or Mr. Heinzman's or any of the rest of them."

Mr. Orde turned, extending his hand heartily to his astonished son.

"You're all right, Bobby!" said he. "Why, you see, each log is stamped
on the end with a mark. Mr. Proctor's mark is one thing; and Mr.
Heinzman's is another; and all the rest have different ones."

"I see," said Bobby.

The road now led them through a small grove of willows. Emerging thence
they found themselves in full sight of the booms.

For fifty feet Bobby allowed his eyes to run over a scene already
familiar and always of the greatest attraction to him. Then came what he
called, after his Malory, the Stumps Perilous. Between them there was
but just room to drive--in fact the delicate points of the whiffle tree
scratched the polished surfaces of them on either hand. Bobby loved to
imagine them as the mighty guardians of the land beyond, and he always
held his breath until they had been passed in safety.

Shying gently toward each other, ears pricked toward the two obstacles,
the horses shot through with pace undiminished and drew up proudly
before the smallest of the group of buildings. Thence emerged a tall,
spare, keen-eyed man in slouch hat, flannel shirt, shortened trousers
and spiked boots.

"Hullo, Jim," said Mr. Orde.

"Hullo, Jack," said the other.

"Where's your chore boy to take the horses?"

"I'll rustle him," replied the River Boss.

Bobby drew a deep breath of pleasure, and looked about him.

From the land's edge extended a wide surface of logs. Near at hand
little streaks of water lay between some of them, but at a short
distance the prospect was brown and uniform, until far away a narrow
flash of blue marked the open river. Here and there ran the confines of
the various booms included in the monster main boom. These confines
consisted of long heavy timbers floating on the water, and joined end to
end by means of strong links. They were generally laid in pairs, and
hewn on top, so that they constituted a network of floating sidewalks
threading the expanse of saw-logs. At interva