le of
hours by packing his outfit through the forest to a point half a mile
below. That half mile was to the cub and the pup a show which was
destined to live in their memories for as long as they were alive.

They were facing each other about amidships of the log, Neewa flattened
tight, his sharp claws dug in like hooks, and his little brown eyes
half starting from his head. It would have taken a crowbar to wrench
him from the log. But with Miki it was an open question from the
beginning whether he would weather the storm. He had no claws that he
could dig into the wood, and it was impossible for him to use his
clumsy legs as Neewa used his--like two pairs of human arms. All he
could do was to balance himself, slipping this way or that as the log
rolled or swerved in its course, sometimes lying across it and
sometimes lengthwise, and every moment with the jaws of uncertainty
open wide for him. Neewa's eyes never left him for an instant. Had they
been gimlets they would have bored holes. From the acuteness of this
life-and-death stare one would have given Neewa credit for
understanding that his own personal safety depended not so much upon
his claws and his hug as upon Miki's seamanship. If Miki went overboard
there would be left but one thing for him to do--and that would be to
follow.

The log, being larger and heavier at one end than at the other, swept
on without turning broadside, and with the swiftness and appearance of
a huge torpedo. While Neewa's back was turned toward the horror of
frothing water and roaring rock behind him, Miki, who was facing it,
lost none of its spectacular beauty. Now and then the log shot into one
of the white masses of foam and for an instant or two would utterly
disappear; and at these intervals Miki would hold his breath and close
his eyes while Neewa dug his toes in still deeper. Once the log grazed
a rock. Six inches more and they would have been without a ship. Their
trip was not half over before both cub and pup looked like two round
balls of lather out of which their eyes peered wildly.

Swiftly the roar of the cataract was left behind; the huge rocks around
which the current boiled and twisted with a ferocious snarling became
fewer; there came open spaces in which the log floated smoothly and
without convulsions, and then, at last, the quiet and placid flow of
calm water. Not until then did the two balls of suds make a move. For
the first time Neewa saw the whole of the thing