214 THE BED MOUNTAIN OF ALASKA. 
And now, after three-quarters of an hour's pretty con- 
tinuous chopping, Solomon pronounced the cleft suffi- 
ciently deep, and, taking the axe again into his own 
hands, attacked the rugged bark on the opposite side of 
the tree. 
Presently the great hemlock began to shiver; every 
blow was felt throughout its broad limbs and masses of 
tiny-needled foliage. 
" Look out ! " shouted the backwoodsman to the 
Indians, who were stretched out on the moss, danger- 
ously near. 
Slowly at first, then gathering speed and momentum, 
the enormous tree swept downward with a mighty crash, 
which for the time drowned even the voice of the 
cataract. 
" Hurrah ! " cried Robert, leaping upon the prostrate 
trunk, and waving his hat. " The bridge is built ! " 
The hemlock had fallen just as Solomon had intended 
it should. Its top rested well up on the opposite bank of 
the river, with a good forty feet to spare. 
He now proceeded to mount the trunk himself, and 
with his axe clear away half a dozen boughs that blocked 
the way across. Flossie then walked over the bridge, 
and pronounced- it " perfectly splendid." 
As soon as dinner was over, the march was resumed 
across the new hemlock bridge. Both Chloe and Carlo 
showed considerable reluctance at going over, but with 
persuasion and assistance the feat was accomplished. 
