r I hope to see yez all acceptin' the
hospitality of Mrs. Jabez E. Batterpole! But _thet_ ain't no part o'
this here story!

"Nex' day Sandy an' me hed a fine run down by Woodstock. The old raft
rid kinder loose, however, an' we blamed up _an'_ down the fellers ez
had pinned her together to the Falls. Howsumever, we tightened her up a
bit, an' calc'lated she'd hold through.

"Ez we come in hearin' of the Meductic, Sandy sez to me, sez he: 'Jabe,
old 'Ductic is a-hoopin' her up to-day. There's a big head o' water on,
an' I'm thinkin' we'll hev to keep our eyes peeled. It'll take some
skittish steerin', fur ef the old raft jest teches the rocks she'll go
all to slivers.'

"'Right you be!' sez I. An' we braced up.

"Now, ez we soon seen, old 'Ductic _was_ jest a-rearin'. The big raft
shivered like a skeered filly ez she ketched the first nip of them
cross-currents, an' she commenced ter bulge an' sag like a nonsense.
Sandy was on the forrard sweep, but obsarvin' thet, ez the currents was
a-settin', he warn't no use forrard, I called him aft to help me. Ez I
turned my head a leetle mite to holler to him I ketched a squint o' that
yaller chap a-steppin' in behind a tree on the bluff.

"There warn't no time to be a-considerin' of yaller chaps, fur the raft
was settin' dead onter the big rocks in the middle o' the rapid, an'
Sandy an' me was a-heavin' an' a gruntin' on them sweeps to swing her
cl'ar. 'She'll make it,' sez Sandy, 't last--an' that very minit there
comes a ringin' shot from the bluff, an' I feels like it was a dash o'
scaldin' water 'long the tip o' my shoulder-blade. Yez'll notice, I was
leanin' forrard at the time.

"'I'm shot!' sez I; an' then I sees Sandy's sweep swing round, an' Sandy
drops on the logs.

"I jumped cl'ar over to where he laid, but straightways he hops up an'
yells, 'It's only me arm! Look out for the raft, Jabe!'

"_I_ looked out, boys, you bet! But she was jest sheerin roun' onter
them rocks, an' no man's arm could 'a' stopped her. I looked up at the
bluff, an' ketched a sight o' the yaller blackguard standin' there ez
cool ez ye please, mind yez, a-loadin' up fur a fresh shot.

"I hadn't no time fur another squint at him, fur next minit the old raft
struck the rocks. She jest tumbled to pieces like a box o' matches. I
hustled Sandy out to the tail o' the raft jest in time, an' told him to
jump an' strike out fur all was in him, an' I'd see him through er else
we'd kinder shuffle