"Do you think they would grind in there if they happened to bunch?" said I.
"To kindlin'," responded Ump, "if they ever got at it good."
"Ump," I said, looking him squarely in the face, "I'm afraid of it."
The man chewed his thin upper lip. "So am I, Quiller," he answered. "But there ain't much choosin'; we either swim 'em or we go up the spout."
"Well," said I, "do we do it, or not do it?"
The hunchback studied the river. "Quiller," he said finally, "if we knowed about that current——"
I cut him short. "I'll find out about the current," I said. Then I threw away my hat, pitched my coat down on the sod and gathered up my bridle reins.
"Wait!" cried the hunchback. Then he turned to Jud. "Wash your face in the tub by the spout yonder, an' bring up your horse. Take Danel with you. Open Tolbert's fence an' put the cattle in the grove. Then come back here. Quiller's the lightest; he's goin' to try the current."
Then he swung around and clucked to the mare. I spoke to El Mahdi and we rode down toward the river. On the bank Ump stopped and looked out across the water, deep, wide, muddy. Then he turned to me.
"Hadn't you better ride the Bay Eagle?" he said. "She knows more in a minute than any horse that was ever born."