116 WINTER 



when he reached Five-Forks sluice the middle point ( / 

 in the loilg, high bank. While still some distance/ 

 off he heard the sullen roar of the big sluice, through v 

 which the swollen river was trying to force its way. 



He paused to listen a moment. He knew the pe- 

 culiar voice of every one of these gateways, as he 

 knew every foot of the river-bank. 



There was nothing wrong with the sullen roar. 

 But how deep and threatening ! He could feel theT 

 sound even better than he could hear it, far down \ 

 below him. He started forward, to pass on, when he ! 

 half felt, through the long, regular throbbing of I 

 the sluice, a shorter, faster, closer quiver, as of a small / 

 running stream in the bank very near his feet. 



Dropping quickly to his knees, he laid his ear to | 

 the wet earth. A cold, black hand seemed to seize 

 upon him. He heard the purr of running water ! 



It must be down about three feet. He could dis- a 

 1 tinctlyfeel it tearing through. ( 



Without rising he scrambled down the meadow J 

 side of the bank to see the size of the breach. He 

 ! could hear nothing of it for the boiling at the gates ' 

 of the sluice. It was so dark he could scarcely see. 

 But near the bottom the mud suddenly caved beneath j 

 ,his feet, and a rush of cold water caught at hisj 

 knees. 



The hole was greater than he feared. 



Crawling back to the top of the bank, he leaned 

 out over the river side. A large cake of ice hung in 





