They sat with their legs hanging over, and their hands grasping the log beneath as firmly as they could. It was while they were in this position that Bart felt something strike his foot. At that touch his first impulse made him shrink back in terror, and jerk both feet into the air. The same moment Pat felt the same, and evinced the same repugnance by a similar gesture. A moment’s thought, however, served to show Bart what it might be; so, reaching his feet down as far as he could in order to test it, he found that his suspicions were correct, and that the water had risen to that point. What had touched his foot was a log that had floated on the top of the rising water. But there were more than one log, and this was the discovery that Bart made; and these logs were a dense mass that filled the pit, and were carried up by the water in this way. They had loosened many logs at the bottom, and had stood the long ones upright, while the shorter ones lay lengthwise. It was in about this same position that the mass of logs now floated up, and reached the place where they could be touched. In a moment a joyful cry escaped Bart. “What’s the matter?” cried Pat. “Were safe! we’re safe!” cried Bart. These were the first words that had been spoken since Pat first announced the entrance of the water. “Safe, is it?” said Pat. “I’d like to know how, so I would.” “Why, these logs; only feel with your feet, Pat. They’re all floating up. I never thought of that. Only feel how compact and solid they are. They’ll bear our weight, and we can float up with them.” Pat for a moment made no remark, but reached out his feet, and felt as far as he could. Then a cry of joy burst from him. “Huroo!” he cried. “By the powers! but it’s safe we are. Sure it’s as solid as a flure, so it is. It’s a raft that we have, and it’ll float us as high as it goes.” “Yes, if it don’t cave in first.” “Cave in, is it? O, sure but it won’t be likely to cave in up here at all at all.” “We’d better lie along at full length.” “An what’ll we do that for?” “O, so as to get the advantage of the floating power of all the logs. If we stand on one or two they’ll sink down at once.” “Sure an that’s so. It’s right you are, so it is. We’ll lie down at full lingth; an O, don’t I wish we could take a bit of a nap!” “No, don’t think of that, Pat; we’ve got lots to do yet.” “Nappin? me nappin? Sure it’s only funnin I wor.” “At any rate, we need only to float up to the plank casing. Then we’ll be all right. And it seems to be coming up pretty fast. It’s risen a foot already, since we first felt it.” “So it has, sure.” “We’d better be getting ready. I’ll drop off first, and roll over to the other side, and hold on to as many as I can, and then you come along after me.” “Wait a bit, sure, till it gits a few inches higher. It’ll be up fast enough, sure.” “O, yes, of course.”