Western Kansas world. [volume] (WaKeeney, Kan.) 1885-current, 1892-01-09

- "a q Sti1 l1lils - ~ = q SE1
III - q timber lefe betW6s6 =
ke3f ana th0 undetcut sN0W, -
son, you Hin take on your handle
Tie Wedges,1l do the rest, = said John.
It Was do~e, and the saw WfthdfaUu
and carefully hidden away, and, In Z
trice, the woods were ringing with thu
| INDISPENSABLE sound that steel sledges
make when hammering steel wedges
into the body of tree to break tt
heart. Frank was getting a little
nervous and his blows were uncertain
and poorly directed, and the big man
remarked: sGuess there's been q
good many wedges you've never
drove;;" and, to atone for his sarcasm
and encourage the boy, continued:
sTake yer time, me son. Make every
lick count one, and don't try to hit
too hard. Dye know that little
blowsll kill the devil! We've raised
her some already. See! you kin stun
your fingers in the gap now" A wind
had sprung up. and was gently sway
ing the green top. ssNow watch
when the wind swings her from us.
and tap the wedges in lively. She
must have leaned back little or she
would have gone before now-and
say, when she does get ready to 20.
dom get excited, but just watch your
movements and take along that fallen
tree yonder and don't look behind un-
til you're under the shelter of the
big stub, I'll look out for myself. /"
Then he made a trumpet of his hands
and shouted:
"Slashways = across = the - hill!
Watch-out-be-l-O-o-w!"
Two peelers heard the warning,
dropped their bars, and made off out
of reach of limbs.
The sledging went on, and there
were few swapping cracks, each Of
which made Franks heart Jump; but
he stayed until the last loud breaking
boom, when they both jumped from
the staging and ran to the Stub
Slowly she began to sail, making a
wider. gap for the sky to be seen
through; quickening by degrees, her
top made a swishing sound as it
parted the air, faster and faster,
noisier and noisier, grazing the stand
ing trees nearly, and causing show
er of limbs. But she fell at length,
with a crash that shook the earth,
into the bed they had made for her,
and at the same time the butt dropped
off the stump.
ssSaved her! from butt to browse
and from heart to bark, by the great
Macanoy!" exclaimed the big man,
when the commotion of sway
ing trees and falling limbs had SUBJ
sided, and he was pacing back and
forth on the trunk. ''See how pretty
she sits between the stumps. There
amt foot of room on either side!"
Frank was elated, and wished that
the absent partner would stay in
town, 'tsick, or drunk, or sumthin,"
for the remainder of the season. Per-
haps what followed was a Judgment
upon him for the wickedness of the
wish-but I must tell the story.
In a week, Alec had not come back
and Frank was learning the craft rap
idly. They had moved to a steep
country where the timber was small
and scattering. They felled most of
the trees uphill, that is, the tops
pointed up the hill and the butts
rested on or against the stump.
''Hinging 'em on to the stump" is
the way John expressed it when the
butts rested on the stump.
They "hinged" several, and Frank
had asked him:
"Do they ever take notion to slip
down hill?''
'Yes, sometimes, was the reply.
"What's feller goin' to do to get
QUITO the way? They might roll
over or flip up and come clear back
over the stump"
sThat's so; but you've got to take
chances, as in all the work in these
bloody woods"
They had shouted the warning, for
the tree was beginning to topple over.
Both men jumped. Frank ran to the
right and John to the left. The tree,
UuU q ouAo1 OuCs 1CAA, ITO UOU U1OhC VI
about two-thirds up and the bulk of
the trunk balanced-Or seemed to
a knoll above them.
Then strange thing happened. She
swung to the right, her bark dropped
off, and in her nakedness. like a yell
low snake, she slid down the hill.
John shouted, but it was too late.
He saw the extended arms and heard
the choking groan, and the thought
Of it all made the strong man sick.
That evening they held a meeting
in the bull-pen to talk the matter
over. Josh was appointed admins
traitor. He fortified himself with an
large chew of tobacco, adj
iusted his spectacles very carefully,
and then reverently examined the
boys effects. He found a photograph
Of the girl at home, of course, and a
few letters. He read the letters-to
and then addressed the as
semblage. His voice trembled a |
little:
''See here, fellers!" said he,- ssthis |
yer boy warn't no Urinary scrub. He