下载辰思小说免费APP
Ordereceivedallthiswithsatisfaction，butwithaslightscepticism。
"It’safloatingjam；anditgetsapushfromunderneath，"hepointedout。"It’sprobablysafe；butanotherfloodmightsenditout。"
"Thefloodsaregoingdown，"saidNorth。
"GoodLord；Ihopeso！"saidOrde。
Newmarksentwordthatasuddenfitofsicknesshadconfinedhimtothehouse。
"Didn’tthinkofalittlethinglikepiles，"saidOrdetohimself。
"Well，that’shardlyfair。Joecouldn’thaverealisedwhenheleftherejusthowbadthingswere。"
Fortwodays，ashasbeensaid，nothinghappened。ThenOrdedecidedtobreakoutachannelthroughthejamitself。Thiswasanecessarypreliminarytogettingthelogsinshapefordistribution。Anopeningwasmadeinthepiles，andtherivermen，withpike—poleandpeavy，begancautiouslytodigtheirwaythroughthetangledtimbers。TheGovernmentpile—driver，whichhadfinallybeensentupfrombelow，beganplacingfiveextraboomsatintervalsdownstreamtocapturethedriftasfastasitwasturnedloose。Fromthemillsandprivateboomscrewscametoassistinthelabour。Thetroublesappearedtobequiteover，whenwordcamefromReddingthatthewaterswereagainrising。TenminuteslaterLeopoldLincolnBunn，thelocalreporter，cameflappinginonRandall’soldwhitehorse，likeasecondPaulRevere，cryingthattheironbridgehadgone，andthelogswereracingdownrivertowardthebooms。
"Itjustwentout！"heansweredtheeagerexclamationsofthemenwhocrowdedaroundhim。"That’sallIknow。Itwentout！Andtheotherbridges！Sure！AllbuttheLakeShore！Don’tknowwhythatdidn’tgoout。No；thelogsdidn’tjamthere；justslidrightunder！"
"Thatsettlesit，"saidWelton，turningaway。
"Youaren’tgoingtoquit！"criedOrde。
"Certainly。You’recrazy！"saidWeltonwithsomeasperity。"Iftheycan’tstopalittlejamwithiron，whatareyourwoodendefencesgoingtoamounttoagainstthewholeaccumulation？Whenthoselogshitthetailofthisjam，she’llgooutbeforeyoucanwink。"
Herefusedtolistentoargument。
"It’ssuredeath，"saidhe，"andI’mnotgoingtosacrificemymenfornothing，evenifthey’dstay。"
Otherownersamongthebystanderssaidthesamething。Anairofprofounddiscouragementhadfallenonthemall。Thestrainofthefightwasnowtelling。Theutmostthathumanfleshandbloodwascapableofhadbeenaccomplished；ahard—wonvictoryhadbeengainedbythenarrowestofnarrowmargins。Inthisnewstruggletheoldoddswerestillagainstthem，andinadditionthestrengththathadpushedasideRedding’sbesteffort，augmentedbythemomentumofapowerfulcurrent。Itwassmallwondertheygaveup。
Alreadythenewswasspreadingamongtheworkersonthejams。Asmanshoutedtoman，eachshoulderedhispeavyandcamerunningashore，eagerquestiononhislips。OrdesawtheGovernmentdriverbelowcastingloosefromhermoorings。AmomentlaterhertugtowedherawaytosomesidebayouofsafetyoutoftheexpectedrushtotheLake。
"Butwecanholdher！"criedOrdeindesperation。"Havealittlenervewithyou。Youaren’tgoingtoquitlikethat！"
Hesweptthemwithhiseye；thenturnedawayfromthemwithagestureofdespair。Theywatchedhimgravelyandsilently。
"It’snouse，boy，"saidoldCarlin；"it’ssuredeath。"
"Suredeath！"Ordelaughedbitterly。"Allright；suredeath，then。
Isn’tthereamaninthiscrowdthatwilltacklethissortofsuredeathwithme？"
"I’mwithyou。"
"Andme，"saidNorthandtheRoughRedinabreath。
"Good！"criedOrde。"You，too，JohnnySims？andPurdy？andJimmyPowers？Bullyboys！"
"Ireckonyou’llneedthetug，"saidMarsh。
AdozenmoreofOrde’spersonalfollowingvolunteered。Atoncehisgoodhumourreturned；andhiseasyleisurelyconfidenceinhimself。
"We’vegottoclosethatopening，firstthing，"saidhe。"Marsh，towthepile—driverupthere。"
Hecausedaheavylinetoberunfromatree，situatedaroundthebenddownstream，tothesternofthedriver。
"Nowifyouhaveto，"hetoldNorth，whohadcharge，"letgoallholds，andthelinewillprobablyswingyouaroundoutofdanger。
Weonthetugwillgetoutasbestwecan。"
Theopeningwastobeclosedbypilesdriveningroupsofsixteenboundtogetherbychains。Theclumpswereconnectedonetotheotherbyasystemofboomlogsandropestointerposeacontinuousbarrier。Thepile—driverplacedtheclumps；whilethetugattendedtotheconnectingdefences。
"Now，boys，"saidOrdeashislastword，"ifshestartstogo，saveyourselvesthebestwayyoucan。Nevermindthedriver。STAYON
TOP！"
Slowlythetugandherconsortnosedupthroughtheboilingwater。
"She’srisingalready，"saidOrdetoMarsh，watchingthewateraroundthepiles。
"Yes，andthatjam’sgoingoutbeforemanyminutes，"supplementedthetugboatcaptaingrimly。
Boththesestatementswereonlytootrue。Althoughnotfifteenminutesbefore，thejamhadlainlockedinperfectsafety，nowtheslightriseofthewatershadliftedandloosenedthemassuntilitrosefairlyonthequiver。
"Workfast！"Ordecalledtothemenonthepile—driver。"IfwecanclosetheopeningbeforethoseReddinglogshitus，wemaybeabletoturnthemintoournewchannel。"
Hedidnotaddthatiftheopeningwerenotclosedbeforethejambroke，asbreakitwouldinaveryfewmoments，theprobabilitieswerethatbothpile—driverandtugwouldbedestroyed。Everymanknewthatalready。
TomNorthorderedapileplacedinthecarriage；thehammerdescended。Atonce，likebatteringramslogsbegantoshootupfromthedepthsoftheriverendforemostallaboutthem。Thesetimberswereprojectedwithtremendousforce，leapingsometimeshalftheirlengthabovethesurfaceofthewater。Ifanyofthemhadhiteitherthetugorthepile—driversquarely，itwouldhavestoveandsunkthecraft。Fortunatelythisdidnothappen；butMarshhastilytowedthescowbacktoabetterposition。Thepilehadevidentlybeendrivenintothefootofthejamitself，thuslooseningtimberslyingatthebottomoftheriver。
Theworkwentforwardasrapidlyaspossible。Fourtimesthejamshruggedandsettled；butfourtimesitpausedonthebrinkofdischarge。Threeoftheclumpshadbeenplacedandbound；andfifteenpilesofthelastclumphadbeendriven。
"Onemorepile！"breathedOrde，hisbreathquickeningatrifleasheglancedupstream。
Thehammerinthehighderrickransmoothlytothetop，paused，andfell。Ahalfdozentimesmoreitripped。Thenwithoutdelaytheheavychainswerethrownaroundthewinch，andthesteampowerbegantodrawtheclumpstogether。
"Done！"criedTomNorth，straighteninghisback。
"Andajobintime，too，"saidJohnnySims，indicatingthecreakingandtotteringjam。
Northunmoored，andthedriverdroppedbackwiththecurrentandaroundthebendwhereshewassnubbedbythesafetylinealreadymentioned。
Immediatelythetugchurnedforwardtoaccomplishthelastduty，thatofbindingthedefencestogetherbymeansofchainsandcables。
Twomenleapedtothefloatingboomsandmovedherforeandaft。
OrdeandtheRoughRedsetaboutthetask。Methodicallytheyworkedfromeitherendtowardthemiddle。Whentheymetfinally，Ordedirectedhisassistanttogetaboardthetug。
"I’lltiethisone，Jimmy，"saidhe。
Aboardthetugallwastensepreparation。Marshgraspedalertlythespokesofthewheel。Intheengine—roomHarvey，hishandonthethrottle，stoodreadytothrowherwideopenatthesignal。ArmedwithsharpaxestwomenpreparedtocutthemooringlinesonasignfromtheRoughRed。Theywatchedhisupraisedhand。Whenitshoulddescend，theiraxesmustfall。
"Lookout，"theRoughRedwarnedOrde，whowasmethodicallytyingthelastcumbersomeknot，"she’sgettingready！"
Ordefoldedtheknotoverwithoutreply。Upstreamthejamcreaked，groaned，settleddeliberatelyforward，cuttingaclumpofpileslikestraw。
"She’scoming！"criedtheRoughRed。
"Givemeeverysecondyoucan，"saidOrde，withoutlookingup。Hewasjustmakingthelastturns。
Themasstoppledslowly，fellintotheswiftcurrent，andleapedwitharoar。TheRoughRedwatchedwithcat—likeattention。rewworkedasthoughmad。Exceptingthem，nooneventuredontheriver，fortobecaughtintheimminentbreakmeanttodie。Oldspars，refusetimbersofallsorts——anythingandeverythingwasrequisitionedthatmighthelpformanobstructionaboveorbelowwater。Pilesweretakenwheretheycouldbefound。Farmer’streeswerecutdown。Pinesbelongingtodiversandprotestingownerswerefelledandsharpened。Somewerebroughtinbyrail。EventheinviolateGovernmentsupplywascommandeered。Th
