And now Baptiste had evidently made up his mind that it was high time for him to start something. Quickly he ran to the middle of the log, stopping only when he was close to the dividing mark. Skeets did the same, and as Baptiste started the roll the two men were standing only about a foot apart.
“This is a new one to me,” Bob whispered.
“Me too,” Jack replied. “Wonder what he’s up to.”
They soon found out, for after getting the log to revolving nearly as rapidly as at first, Baptiste, with a marvelous display of agility, ran back to his end and, turning, started to move his feet the other way. The move gave the log a sudden wrench and Skeets was for the moment hard put to it to stick on.
“Pretty near had him that time,” declared a man who was standing close to Rex.
Baptiste plainly showed his disappointment at the failure of the trick, and for a moment both men rested, Skeets moving slowly back to his end.
“Aw, mix it up,” someone shouted from the shore.
All this time the log had been drifting slowly down the river and now it was all of a hundred feet from the jam.
But the end was near at hand. Skeets began jumping up and down at the extreme end of the log. Baptiste had no trouble in following the movement, but after Skeets had the log bobbing up and down to his satisfaction he suddenly gave it a violent twist by throwing all his weight to one side. The move caught Baptiste unawares, and at once threw him off his balance. Desperately he struggled to save himself, but Skeets, taking quick advantage of his opportunity, gave the log another sudden twist and the next instant Baptiste was in the water.
“Hurrah for Skeets,” shouted a dozen men all at the same time, and the forest echoed with the cheers.
“It was great,” Rex declared as they moved toward the shore. “I wouldn’t have missed it for a farm.”
The contest ended, the entire crew set to work, and in less than an hour had cleared away enough of the logs to permit of the boom being repaired. This accomplished, it was not difficult to start the logs in motion again, and by the end of another hour they were running smoothly past either side of the island.
The boys and Rex were to leave after dinner, going down river as far as Solon on the stage. There they could connect with the afternoon train for Skowhegan.