They did not have long to wait, for suddenly Skeets, with a wild yell, sprang from the log high into the air. Rex held his breath expecting to see the man fall back into the water. But no. Skeets’ feet struck the log fair and square and, although he had to struggle for an instant to regain his balance, he did not lose his footing. As Skeets left his end of the log the other end of course sank deeper in the water and when his two hundred pounds again landed, Baptiste’s end came up with a violent jerk.
“He’s a goner,” someone shouted, as the Frenchman wavered back and forth in his efforts to keep his balance.
He succeeded but, as Bob declared, “it was by the skin of his teeth.”
And now Baptiste had evidently made up his mind that it was high time for him to start something. Quickly he ran to the middle of the log, stopping only when he was close to the dividing mark. Skeets did the same, and as Baptiste started the roll the two men were standing only about a foot apart.
“This is a new one to me,” Bob whispered.
“Me too,” Jack replied. “Wonder what he’s up to.”
They soon found out, for after getting the log to revolving nearly as rapidly as at first, Baptiste, with a marvelous display of agility, ran back to his end and, turning, started to move his feet the other way. The move gave the log a sudden wrench and Skeets was for the moment hard put to it to stick on.
“Pretty near had him that time,” declared a man who was standing close to Rex.
Baptiste plainly showed his disappointment at the failure of the trick, and for a moment both men rested, Skeets moving slowly back to his end.
“Aw, mix it up,” someone shouted from the shore.