the rocky river-bed held many a snare and pitfall. There was a certain ledge
under the water, so artfully placed that every log striking under its
projecting edges would wedge itself firmly there, attracting others by its
evil example.

"That galoot-boss ought to hev shoved his crew down to that jam this mornin',"
grumbled Old Kennebec to Alcestis Crambry, who was always his most loyal and
attentive listener. "But he would n't take no advice, not if Pharaoh nor Boaz
nor Herod nor Nicodemus come right out o' the Bible an' give it to him. The
logs air contrary today. Sometimes they'll go along as easy as an old shoe,
an' other times they'll do nothin' but bung, bung, bung! There's a log
nestlin' down in the middle o' that jam that I've be'n watchin' for a week.
It's a cur'ous one, to begin with; an' then it has a mark on it that you can
reco'nize it by. Did ye ever hear tell o' George the Third, King of England,
Alcestis, or ain't he known over to the crambry medders? Well, once upon a
time men used to go through the forests over here an' slash a mark on the
trunks o' the biggest trees. That was the royal sign, as you might say, an'
meant that the tree was to be taken over to England to make masts an'
yard-arms for the King's ships. What made me think of it now is that the
King's mark was an arrer, an' it's an arrer that's on that there log I'm
showin' ye. Well, sir, I seen it fust at Milliken's Mills a Monday. It was in
trouble then, an' it's be'n in trouble ever sence. That's allers the way;
there'll be one pesky, crooked, contrary, consarne'd log that can't go
anywheres without gittin' into difficulties. You can yank it out an' set it
afloat, an' before you hardly git your doggin' iron off of it, it'll be
snarled up agin in some new place. From the time it's chopped down to the day
it gets to Saco, it costs the Comp'ny 'bout ten times its pesky valler as
lumber. Now they've sent over to Benson's for a team of horses, an' I bate ye
they can't git 'em. I wish i was the boss on this river, Alcestis."