Heinzman's logs were all blazed inside a week. The men passed the
hatchets along the line, and slim chance did a marked log have of
rescue once the poor thing fell into difficulties. With the strange
and interesting tendency rivermen and woodsmen have of personifying
the elements of their daily work, the men addressed the helpless
timbers in tones of contempt.
"Thought you'd ride that rock, you ---- ---- ----," said they, "and
got left, did you? Well, lie there and be ---- to you!"
And if chance offered, and time was not pressing, the riverman would
give his helpless victim a jerk or so into a more difficult
position. Times of rising water--when the sluice-gates above had
been opened--were the most prolific of opportunities. Logs rarely
jam on rising water, for the simple reason that constantly the
surface area of the river is increasing, thus tending to separate
the logs. On the other hand, falling water, tending to crowd the
drive closer together, is especially prolific of trouble.
Therefore, on flood water the watchers scattered along the stretches
of the river had little to do--save strand Heinzman's logs for him.
And when flood water had passed, some of those logs were certainly
high and dry.
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