Two Young Lumbermen by Edward Stratemeyer

"Those young fellows are lost!"

Such was the cry from more than one old lumberman standing on the river bank, as Dale and Owen disappeared from view amid the flying spray and upheaving timbers of the log jam.

That it was a dangerous position, fully as perilous as that from which old Herrick had emerged but a short while before, was beyond question. The drive behind was extra large, and the logs were piling up with a rapidity almost indescribable.

As Dale went down, flat on his back on two of the largest of the logs, he gave a shudder he could not repress. Like a flash he had a mental vision of being hurled under the drive, and of the others finding his crushed body long afterwards -- his body and that of his chum, too.

But life is sweet to every one, and Dale did not intend to give up without a struggle. As quickly as he could he turned over, and clutching at a log that was rising above the others, he pulled himself up. Then his arm touched Owen's shoulder, and he grabbed his chum.

"Get up, quick! " he gasped. "We must get to shore somehow, or we'll go under!"

"All right, come on! " came pantingly from Owen, and off they started across the logs.

The drive was shifting in all directions, and logs rose and fell in front and on each side of them. Often they would be on the point of taking a step, when the log would bob out of sight, leaving nothing but water in its place. Then a timber would turn on them just as they hopped to another. Once Dale straddled a log, but Owen got him up in time to save him from having his leg crushed. So they kept on, gradually drawing closer to the shore.

"By George! they are out of it! " cried Andrews. "This way, boys, this way!"

They saw him waving his hand, and turned in that direction. It was well they did this, for the drive was shifting, so that one section near the shore swung around to the middle of the stream. But their danger was now at an end, and in a few seconds more they stood on solid ground, dripping from head to feet, and with their hearts thumping wildly in their breasts.

"Kind of a close call for you," remarked Andrews. "I wouldn't have been in your place for a thousand dollars."

"It was a close call," answered Dale. His face was pale, and he felt a strange sinking sensation all over him.

"Better rest for a spell, you and Owen too," went on Andrews, and they followed his advice and did not move on again until half an hour later. The boat contained some dry clothing, and this, when donned, made them feel fairly comfortable.

The remainder of the drive occurred without anything unusual happening, and a week later found the two young lumbermen in Bangor, where they put up at a cheap but comfortable boarding house, at which Owen was already known. The proprietors of several houses of low reputation tried to get them to take rooms elsewhere, but they would not.

"They can't catch me for a fool," said Owen. "They've got some of the poor chaps, and those fellows will be penniless in less than a month," and so it proved. Many lumbermen are reckless, and their wages are spent in drinking and gambling as soon as received. But conditions are gradually improving, and it is to be hoped that some day these boarding-house "sharks," as they are called, will be banished altogether, not alone from this territory, but also from every other Down-East lumber district.

The savings of the two young lumbermen, including the gift from Mr. Jefferson Wilbur, amounted to over three hundred dollars, a sum which both surveyed with delight, and Owen with positive astonishment.

"Three hundred and twenty-four dollars," cried Owen. "And half of it belongs to me. Why, I never dreamed I could save so much."

"It only shows what you can save if you put your mind to it," answered Dale. "We've saved this and we haven't deprived ourselves of very much either, have we?"

"Not a great deal, Dale. Once in a while I wanted some extras, but I'm just as well off, I reckon, as if I'd had 'em. What do you think we'd best do with this cash? It isn't safe in the trunk. The house might burn down."

"Let's each open a bank account of one hundred dollars," answered Dale, and this was done. They were very proud of their bank books, and looked at them a long while before stowing them away.