Bob paid no attention to the
men about the fire, but bent his steps toward the river. Billy, however,
said a few delighted words to the sprawling group. It arose with
alacrity and followed the young man's lead.
Arrived at the bank of the river, Bob swung his burden to the ground,
knelt by it, and lit a match. The rivermen, gathering close, saw that
the bundle around the end of the sapling consisted of a dozen rolls of
giant powder from which dangled a short fuse. Bob touched his match to
the split outer end of the fuse. It spluttered viciously. He arose with
great deliberation, picked up his strange weapon, and advanced out over
the logs.
In the meantime the opposing army had gathered about the disputed clump
of piles, to the full strength of its three shotguns and the single
rifle. Bob paid absolutely no attention to them. When within a short
distance he stopped and, quite oblivious to warnings and threats from
the army, set himself to watching painstakingly the sputtering progress
of the fire up the fuse, exactly as a small boy watches his giant
cracker which he hopes to explode in mid-air.
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