She had fallen a victim, and a reluctant victim, to the law of
compensation. When Tom Barker held up his finger and whistled, she
crawled to him.
The log, slightly rolling, as if intoxicated, neared the brink of the
falls. And then it stopped again, where the river was narrowest and
the current strongest. No log had stopped in this place before; Mamie
saw that it was caught by a small rock, and held fast by the other
logs behind it.
"It won't go over," she murmured.
Within a minute a terrific jam impended. Across the river Tom was
swearing horribly; and between husband and wife rose a filmy cloud of
spray upon which were imprinted the mysterious colours of the rainbow,
which, long ago, Mamie had been taught to regard as the most wonderful
symbol in the world--God's promise that in the end good should triumph
over evil.
Afraid to move, fascinated, she stood still, staring at the rainbow.
Presently Tom disappeared. When he returned Mamie could see him very
plainly. He had a stick of dynamite and a fuse. Mamie saw him glance
at his watch and measure the fuse. Then, leaping from log to log, he
approached the one in midstream which lay passive, blocking the
advance of all the others.
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