"
"All right," rejoined his companion, with a broad grin at the idea. "I'm
willin', if you are; but who's goin' to tell our fam'lies the reason we've
deserted 'em? I bate yer we shan't budge till the crack o' doom. The road
commissioner'll come along once a year and mend the bridge under our feet, but
Old Kennebec'll talk straight on till the day o' jedgment."
Mr. Wiley had one of the most enjoyable mornings of his life, and felt that
after half a century of neglect his powers were at last appreciated by his
fellow citizens.
He proposed numerous strategic movements to be made upon the logs, whereby
they would move more swiftly than usual. He described several successful
drives on the Kennebec, when the logs had melted down the river almost by
magic, owing to his generalship; and he paid a tribute, in passing, to the
docility of the boss, who on that occasion had never moved a single log
without asking his advice.
From this topic he proceeded genially to narrate the life-histories of the
boss, the under boss, and several Indians belonging to the crew,--histories in
which he himself played a gallant and conspicuous part. The conversation then
drifted naturally to the exploits of river-drivers in general, and Mr.
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