The tree
was torn from it and snatched off reluctant all by itself, rolling over
and over in a fashion that must have made the cub rejoice to think that
he had quitted a refuge so eccentric in its behavior. As a matter of
fact, the flood was now sweeping the raft over what was, at ordinary
times, a series of low falls, a succession of saw-toothed ledges which
would have ripped the raft to bits. Now the ledges were buried deep
under the immense volume of the freshet. But they were not to be
ignored, for all that. And they made their submerged presence felt in
a turmoil that became more and more terrifying to the two little
passengers on the raft.
"There was just one point in the raft, one only, that was farther away
than any other part from those dreadful, seething-crested black
surges--and that was the very center. The little bear backed toward
it, whimpering and shivering, from his corner.
"From her corner, directly opposite, the baby too backed toward it,
hitching herself along and eyeing the waves in the silence of the
terror. She arrived at the same instant. Each was conscious of
something alive, and warm, and soft, and comfortable--with motherly
suggestion in the contact.
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