George Allan England

“ Mon Di, I ant know nothin' 'bout dat; de only thing I know next been Coderre's big fist come pan!—on my head-side,so I stagger lak I been drink one quart, mebbe two quart of dat Canadaw high-wine. All kinds stars bust out in bunches; my head she spin so I feel lak she's goin' for come off, an' ho my, w'at yells an' hollers dat crowd make, an' stampin' wit' de feet, wavin' wit' de harms in dat dark old camp! Den, 'Look out! Gare! yell some of de boys, an' I see Coderre rushin' me, goin' knock my head off dis tam, sure. ”

“ Say, dat's pretty bad place for any man, eh? Even de best swimmer ant got no show; if he ant kill on de rocks, but only stunned, de reever goin' suck him under de log-crib, sure, an' it's solid log for two mile! Everybody been runnin' down de edge of de bank, same lak me, all chatterin' at once—Rosie she run, too, an' now she's blue-color—her eye been lak some cow's eye w'en you take away de calf, hein? Coderre he bubble an' fight an' swim ”

“ Rosie been one w'at only holler—holler an' run down along de reever-side, lookin' for see where Coderre come up. Nobody ant see nothin' of heem, for a minute or two, only a big lot of foam an' bubbles—den he come up, blowin', an' strike out for de odder shore, w'at been good hundred fifty feet away. De current pull an' pull an' twist him 'round—he see he ant goin' for mak dat odder shore, so he turn an' swim lak madman for de camp—much nearer, but de current she's been somet'ing fierce where he been now, I goin' tole you! ”

“ It most look lak he's goin' reach de shore—he's just strike de place where de current run so fast, 'bout sixty foot from de bank, when w'at you t'ink? Pan! his foot strike some piece wet, slimy moss on de log, his lags fly up, his head flop down, an'—splash! he's in de reever, gone under de watter—only de log been dere, drawin' an' drawin' down towards de foam an' rocks an' thunder of de rapides!
“Big, eemense yell go up from everybody—even me! How everybody been scare—how I been happy, yas, sir! Some run, jump down de bank for get bateau some run for rope, some only holler. ”

“ Everybody been tired, bad in de temper, ready for trouble, 'specially me an' Coderre. Right after souper, dat evenin', de fight she's commence, an' say, she ant finish till most nine o'clock; an' when she finish dere ant one man on dat camp has got a whole skin; ant one chair has got more as two lags, ant no lamp left; de deacon-seat she's been broke in two piece,an' de stove she's been w'at it say on de newspaper 'total wreck.' John Quixote been at de bottom of de pile, too, lak I goin' tole you! ”

“ Good boy.' 'Go it!' 'Hammer it to him!' I hear de fellers shout, all crowd in' round, an' I jump on dat Coderre, as he lay strugglin' on de floor, I go for follow dat blow up; but some Hamericans in de crowd. (Hamericans have some fool idea 'bout not hit a man w'en he's down, so much as to say dat w'en you been fightin' you ant want to hurt de odder feller all you capab'!) , some Hamericans, I tole you, grab me an' pull me back, an' holler 'Fair play!' 'Let him up!' 'Make a ring!' W'at I can do? ”

“ An' up he spring in de air wit' a yell w'at mak my blood feel cold lak de reever-water in Janvier. He spring up an' knock de heel togedder, lak he always do w'en he de maddest posseeble. In spite his heavy boots wit' spike in de sole, w'at you call de corked boots, he jump t'ree foot high, an' twice his heel hit each odder before he come down an' rush for me, both arm swingin', both fist double up, so, lak he goin' mash me wit' one coup. Ah-ha! He's been so mad he ant keep no guard at all. ”

“ Sometam Habitaw he get scare' sudden by some beeg noise, some grand excitements, somet'ing, an' lose hees nerves; so always after dat he's goin' for jump lak he been crazee every tam somebody holler at heem—goin' for do everyt'ing, anyt'ing w'at somebody tole heem. No matter w'at t'ing, foolish dangereuse, if somebody yell quick, loud, he do it, every tam. ”

“ Her père, you know, her père he come wit' her, so it's all right; he been one great friend wit' de boss. People sometam comes for see de drive begin, so dat ant nothin' strange; but de t'ing w'at's been strange, most misfortunate for me is to see dat gal just dat tam after she's t'row me down—see her mak eyes at Coderre an' geeve me de cold shoulder, ouay, mossieur! ”

“ Say, tout à coup dat Coderre, his face all red an' flushed, jump an' holler:
“Now dat de lady she's mak some amusement for us, it's de place some man show w'at he can do! I challenge anybody run one log cross de pool, over an' back, for one month's pay! ”

“ The longest-living author of this work died in 1936, so this work is in the public domain in countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 87 years or less. This work may be in the public domain in countries and areas with longer native copyright terms that apply the rule of the shorter term to foreign works. ”