But, in the first place, I had no wish to be
further indebted to him, and in the second, I might be sure that if I did,
my friends the lumbermen would make my life a misery until I had gone
through all the trouble of making myself respected for my deserts. And
that might take longer than I cared about.
And then one day the engineer came to me with instructions that I was to
observe with care. He spoke politely and sensibly this time:
"We've had no rain for a long time now; the river's getting steadily
lower, and the logs are piling up on the way down. I want you to tell the
man above and the one below to be extra careful about their work just now,
and you yourself, of course, will do the same."
"We're sure to get rain before long," I said, for the sake of saying
something.
"That may be," he answered, with the intense earnestness of youth, "but I
must act all the same as if there were never to be rain again. Now
remember every word I've said. I can't be everywhere at once myself, more
especially now that I've a visitor.
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