"but he'll never be a riverman. No use trying to shove that shape peg in
a round hole!"




XIV


Near noon of the following day a man came upstream to report a jam
beyond the powers of the outlying rivermen. Roaring Dick, after a short
absence for examination, returned to call off the rear. All repaired to
the scene of obstruction.

Bob noticed the slack water a mile or so above the jam. The river was
quite covered with logs pressed tight against each other by the force of
the interrupted current, but still floating. A little farther along the
increasing pressure had lifted some of them clear of the water. They
upended slightly, or lay in hollows between the others. Still farther
downstream the salient features of a jam multiplied. More timbers stuck
out at angles from the surface; some were even lifted bodily. An abattis
formed, menacing and formidable, against which even the mighty dynamics
of the river pushed in vain. Then at last the little group arrived at
the "breast" itself--a sullen and fearful tangle like a gigantic pile of
jackstraws. Beneath it the diminished river boiled out angrily. By the
very fact of its lessened volume Bob could guess at the pressure above.
Immediately the rivermen ran out on this tangle, and, after a moment
devoted to inspection, set to work with their peavies. Bob started to
follow, but Welton held him back.