that's too strong for the infant classes in Sunday-schools; but a
man hedn't ought to tempt Providence. When he's ridin' a log
near the falls at high water, or cuttin' the key-log in a jam, he
ain't in no place for blasphemious swearin'; jest a little easy,
perlite'damn' is 'bout all he can resk, if he don't want to git
drownded an' hev his ghost walkin' the river-banks till kingdom
come.

"You an' I, Long, was the only ones that seen Pretty Quick go,
wa'n't we?" continued Old Kennebec, glancing at Long Abe
Dennett (cousin to Short Abe), who lay on his back in the grass,
the smoke-wreaths rising from his pipe, and the steel spikes in
his heavy, calked-sole boots shining in the sun.

"There was folks on the bridge," Long answered, "but we was the
only ones near enough to see an' hear. It was so onexpected, an'
so soon over, that them as was watchin' upstream, where the men
was to work on the falls, wouldn't 'a' hed time to see him go
down. But I did, an' nobody ain't heard me swear sence, though
it's ten years ago. I allers said it was rum an' bravadder that
killed Pretty Quick Waterman that day. The boys hedn't give him
a 'dare' that he hedn't took up. He seemed like he was
possessed, an' the logs was the same way; they was fairly wild,
leapin' around in the maddest kind o' water you ever see. The
river was b'ilin' high that spring; it was an awful stubborn jam,
an' Pretty Quick, he'd be'n workin' on it sence dinner."

"He clumb up the bank more'n once to have a pull at the bottle
that was hid in the bushes," interpolated Mr. Wiley.