severely. "Did I not tell you to be the last to leave the
shore?"

"You did, General," Marcus replied, meekly, "and I obeyed. But I
have pushed to the front so as to be near you."

"I don't need you, Sergeant," Viggo responded, "you may go to the
rear."

The booming of the cataract nearly drowned his voice and Marcus
pretended not to hear it. A huge lumber mass was piling itself
up among the rocks jutting out of the rapids, and a dozen men
hanging like flies on the logs, sprang up and down with axes in
their hands. They cut one log here and another there; shouted
commands; and fell into the river amid the derisive jeers of the
spectators; they scrambled out again and, dripping wet, set to
work once more with a cheerful heart, to the mighty music of the
cataract, whose thundering rhythm trembled and throbbed in the
air.

The boys who were steering their rafts against each other in the
comparatively placid basin were too absorbed in their mimic
battle to heed what was going on below. Halvor and Viggo were
fighting desperately with their boat-hooks, the one attacking and
the other defending himself with great dexterity. They scarcely
perceived, in their excitement, that the current was dragging
them slowly toward the cataract; nor did they note the warning
cries of the men and women on the banks.

Viggo's blood was hot, his temples throbbed, his eyes flashed.