Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1909-12-13

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Reed aCheeJed, his thumb on the hammer.
waving a frantic dish towel at him.
Nothing could induce the cook to at
tempt the logs.
What is It. Charlie?" asked Orde.
leaping ashore and stamping the loose
water from his boots.
Its all off, confided the cook pes
simistically Its no good. He's stop
ped us now"
Whats off? Who's stopped whatT'
Reed. He's druv the men from the
dam with a shotgun. We might as
well quit"
Shotgun, hey" exclaimed Orde.
"Well, the old son of a gum He
thought a moment. his lips puckered
as though TO whistle; then, as usual.
he laughed amusedly. Lets go take
look at the army" said he.
He swung away at a round pace.
followed rather breathlessly by the
cook.
Orde found the center of the dam
was occupied by Reed. his plug hat
fuzzier than ever, his coattails and
loose trousers tapping at his every
movement. over his shoulder he car
ried a long percussion lock shotgun.
Perched along the bank sat the river
men. watching him in silence.
whats the matter?" inquired Orde.
approaching.
IF the law don't protect me I'll pro-
tect myself" Reed proclaimed. 81
give We fair warning
"But surely" said Orde, 1--WE have a
right to run our logs through. It's an
open river"
And hev We been runnin' your logs
through?' cried the old man excitedly.
"Hev We? First Off We begin to tear
down my dam, and then when the
river begins a-roarin' and a-ragin'
through then you tamper with my i'm
provements Furthermore. a-lowerin' the
gate and otherwise a-modifyin' my
structure"
Orde stepped forward. Immediately
Reed wheeled, his thumb on the ham,
mer.
"All right. old spirit of 70" replied
Orde. Don't shoot: I'll come down"
He walked back to the waiting row.
Surely" spoke up Newmark, what
you have the legal right to run your
logs"
Orde rolled a quizzical eye in his d.
rection.
Perfectly correct, son." he drawl-
ed. but we're engaged in the happy
occupation Of getting out logs. By the
time the law was all adjusted and a
head of steam up the water ID be down
In this game you get out logs first AID
think about law afterward."
How about legal damages?" insist
ed Newmark.
Legal damagesw scoffed Orde. "Ila-
gal damagesi Why, we count legal
damages as part of our regular e.
penses, Ike potatoes"
Orde walked TO the edge of the dam
and stood looking down current. Then
he turned to the grimly silent river
men.
Boys" he commanded briefly, ''get
your peavies and come along"
re led the way past the mill to tile
shadows below.
Bring down two logs fairly big and
hold them by that old snag." he order
ed. Hold them end on-no, pointing
upstream. Fix 'em about ten foot
apart. That's it! George, drive cou-
pie of stakes each side of them TO hold
'em. Correct. Now run down a cou-
pie dozen more and pile them across
those two. side on to the stream, of
course. Roll 'em up. That's the tick
ctr
Orle next braced more logs against
a convenient 5owlder. and an old stull
near shore became the third pier in a
line below the mill.
Now, boys" commanded Orde,
''shove of some shore logs and let
them come down"
The stray logs floating down with
the current the rivermen caught and
damned about the improvised piers.
So in ten seconds after the shore
logs began drifting the jam formed.
low and broad. The weight of the
topmost logs sunk those beneath to
the bed of the stream. This TO GER
tain extent damned back the water.
Below the improvised dam the water