ng gracefully against the shaft
of a peavy, looked up eagerly as his principal approached.

"Well, Jack," he inquired, "is it to be peace or war?"

"War," replied Orde briefly.

III

At this moment the cook stepped into view, and, making a trumpet of his
two hands, sent across the water a long, weird, and not unmusical cry.
The men at once began slowly to drift in the direction of the camp.
There, when the tin plates had all been filled, and each had found a
place to his liking, Orde addressed them. His manner was casual and
conversational.

"Boys," said he, "the old mossback who owns that dam has come up here
loaded to scatter. He's built up the sill of that gate until we can't
get a draw on the water, and he refuses to give, lend, or sell us the
right to cut her out. I've made him every reasonable proposition, but
all I get back is quotations from the prophets. Now, we've got to get
those logs out--that's what we're here for. A fine bunch of whitewater
birlers we'd look if we got hung up by an old mossback in a plug hat.
Johnny Sims, what's the answer?"

"Cut her out," grinned Johnny Sims briefly.

"Correct!" replied Orde with a chuckle. "Cut her out. But, my son, it's
against the law to interfere with another man's property."

This was so obviously humourous in intent that its only reception
consisted of more grins from everybody.

"But," went on Orde more seriously, "it's quite a job. We can't work
more than six or eight men at it at a time. We got to work as fast as we
can before the old man can interfere."

"The nearest sheriff's at Spruce Rapids," commented some one
philosophically.

"We have sixty men, all told," said Orde. "We ought to be able to carry
it through."

He filled his plate and walked across to a vacant place. Here he found
himself next to Newmark.

"Hello!" he greeted that young man, "fixed it with the doctor all
right?"

"Yes," replied Newmark, in his brief, dry manner, "thanks! I think I
ought to tell you that the sheriff is not at Spruce Rapids, but at the
village--expecting trouble."

Orde whistled, then broke into a roar of delight.

"Boys," he called, "old Plug Hat's got the sheriff right handy. I guess
he sort of expected we'd be thinking of cutting through that dam. How'd
you like to go to jail?"

"I'd like to see any sheriff take us to jail, unless he had an army with
him," growled one of the river-jacks.

"Has he a posse?" inquired Orde of Newmark.

"I d