that she was right in the
path of their descent. It would not be easy for her to escape,
dry-footed, In either direction, for the bank of the river, both up, and
down stream, was rough.

But, of course, that chopping sound was made by the man cutting the
boom. Surely nobody was using an ax up there on the pile of logs. She
glanced back to the man teetering on the boom log. The gap in it was
wide and white. He had cut on the down-river side. Already the pressure
from up stream was forcing the gash open, wider and wider----

There came a yell from across the river. Somebody there had seen what
was threatening over Ruth's head. Then Jim Hooley cast his glance that
way and yelled through his megaphone:

"Jump, Miss Fielding! Quick! Jump into the river!"

But at that moment the man on the boom started for the shore, running
frantically for safety. The key log split with a raucous sound. The
water and drift-stuff, in a mounting wave, poured through the gap, and
the noise of it deafened Ruth Fielding to all other sounds.

She did not even glance back and above again at the peril which menaced
her from the top of the steep bank.

CHAPTER XIX

IN DEADLY PERIL

"This stunt business," as Director Hooley called the taking of such
pictures as this, is always admittedly a gamble. After much time and
hundreds of dollars have been spent in getting ready to shoot a scene,
some little thing may go wrong and spoil the whole thing.

There was nothing the matter with the director's plans on this occasion;
every detail of the "freshet" had been made ready for with exactness and
with prodigious regard to detail.

The foreman had cut the key log almost through and the force of the
water and debris behind the boom had broken it. The man barely escaped
disaster by reason of agile legs and sharp caulks on his boots.

The backed-up waters burst through. Up stream, amid the turmoil and murk
of the agitated flood, rode Wonota in her canoe, directly into the focus
of the great cameras. To keep her canoe head-on with the flood, and to
keep it from being overturned, was no small matter. It required all the
Indian girl's skill to steer clear of snags and floating logs. Besides,
she must remember to register as she shot down the stream a certain
emotion which would reveal to the audience her condition of mind, as
told in the story.

Wonota did her part. She was rods above the breaking dam and she could
not see, because of an overh