the
shore and tried to run the logs but, being unaccustomed to that kind of
work, were soon rolled under and floundering to their necks.

"I hadn't na skeer o' their findin' me," Solomon said to Jack. "'Cause
they was a hundred acres o' floatin' timber in that 'ere bay. I heard
'em slippin' an' sloshin' eround nigh shore a few minutes an' then they
give up an' went back in the bush. They were a strip o' open water
'twixt the logs an' the shore an' I clumb on to the timber twenty rod
er more from whar I waded in so's to fool the dogs."

"What did you do with your rifle an' powder?" Jack inquired.

"Wal, ye see, they wuz some leetle logs beyond me that made a kind o' a
holler an' I jest put ol' Marier 'crost 'em an' wound the string o' my
powder-horn on her bar'l. I lay thar a while an' purty soon I heard a
feller comin' on the timber. He were clus up to me when he hit a log
wrong an' it rolled him under. I dim' up an' grabbed my rifle an' thar
were 'nother cuss out on the logs not more'n ten rod erway. He took a
shot at me, but the bullet didn't come nigh 'nough so's I could hear it
whisper he were bobbin' eround so. I lifted my gun an' says I:

"'Boy, you come here to me.'

"But he thought he'd ruther go somewhar else an' he did--poor, ignorant
devil! I went to t' other feller that was rasslin' with a log tryin'
to git it under him. He'd flop the log an' then it would flop him.
He'd throwed his rifle 'crost the timber. I goes over an' picks it up
an' says I:

"'Take it easy, my son. I'll help ye in a minute.'

"His answer wa'n't none too p'lite. He were a leetle runt of a
sergeant. I jest laughed at him an' went to t' other feller an' took
the papers out o' his pockets. I see then a number o' British boys was
makin' fer me on the wobbly top o' the river. They'd see me goin' as
easy as a hoss on a turnpike an' they was tryin' fer to git the knack
o' it. In a minute they begun poppin' at me. But shootin' on logs is
like tryin' to walk a line on a wet deck in a hurricane. Ye got to
know how to offset the wobble. They didn't skeer me. I went an'
hauled that runt out o' the water an' with him under my right arm an'
the two rifles under the left un I started treadin' logs headin' fer
the north shore. They quit shootin' but come on a'ter me pell-mell.
They got to comin' too fast an' I heard 'em goin' down through the roof
o' the bay behind me an' rasslin' with the logs. That put meat on my
bones