Evening capital journal. (Salem, Or.) 1888-1893, 1892-08-25

goes on, anu moiludy ihot othth5 eoisef
With all it's depressing blueness tt
such as have spent the leisure hours
since Saturday night in riotousli living
For once Franks appetite failed
him. The work OK beefsteak and de
lectable flapjack were not to his lils
ING. His muscular neighbor noticed
Il and said, Better eat sump'n, OF
you'll never stand it till noon.
Frank felt grateful for the consider
alton, but did not act upon the ad
vice; whereupon his friend piled
him with the coffeepot saying,
Here, then, drink some o. this TO
scald out yer coppers." But no; the
pains Of raclxing headache and dis
ordered stomach were not to be
soothed by cafe noir--very much
noir and many times warmed up SO
Frank got up and went out.
He seated himself on the bench In
front of the cookhouse to wait for
the others. The morning air was re.
freshing, and it enabled Elm to think
coherently of the recent woeful oc-
currence.
He remembered it all now-the
white fronted saloon at the forks IN
the road; the dingy, foul smelling
barroom; the cheap mirror and fix
lures, and the audacious pictures on
the walls; the card Uttered floor and
the reeling spittoons the click of
the poker chips and the quaint origin
ality Of some of the blasphemy.
Then the game. How he did win
at the beginning, and how the on
lockers craned their necks to see
how he discarded and when he
went his whole pile" on three jacks,
and some one behind remarked,
in low tone, Hes blooded, you
bet yerl" how feeling of confidence
crept over him. There's a home
stake to be won right here and now, y
he had said to himself. But the
fates willed it otherwise, for Lucky
Bob called" him, and the ''show
down" displayed three queens from
the hand of the latter, which ended
the game for Frank. But they filed
him up with "forty-rod" by way of
consolation, and he struck out for
camp by the light Of the moon.
The railroad track, he remembered
thinking, must surely be narrower
than standard gauge and the ties un-
necessarily close together, and there
was something wrong with the moon,
for she hid herself behind cloud
until he reached the high trestle,
when suddenly she unveiled her
peerless light, that, glittoring in the
creek below, startled and perplexed
him. He had sat him down to con-
slider all these matters, and there
they had found him soliloquizing,
with many gestures and an occasion
al apostrophe, to the inconstant
moon. He remembered their help
ing him home and putting him to bed
alas to be aroused in too short
time by the footing of the relentless
horn.
The retrospect ceased as the crew
filed out from breakfast The fore
man stood by the door, and with
that strangely retentive memory
which many unlettered people pos
sess mentally registered each who
went to work. Among the first
was old Josh, the filer, who took
his position behind his bench, and
with arms folded and matutinal pipe
alight waited for the sun to climb
little before beginning his daily task
of pointing teeth and swedging rak
ers.
The crew, apart from the choppers
and peelcrs, was divided into two
gangs. Each gang had its compile
ment Of sawyers, chain tenders and
swampers, and each had a donkey
engine to haul the logs from their |
beds, where the sawyers left them,
into the shaking roads" The team |
took Charge of them from there on,
from the two engines alter
nately. Farther back in the forest |
the choppers and peelers worked col
lectively for the two Outfits"
For one Of these "outfits" Frank
sawed chunks. A chunlzsawyership
Is by no means an exalted position
in the wood butcher brotherhood;
still, it often serves as a stepping
stone for something better. The du-
ties are to cut into movable dimen-
sions any windfalls or worthless tree
tops that may lie in the way Of the
and to remove the
lighter obstructing debris by hand.
He needed a sharpened saw. Josh
must DO interviewed. With a long
lrawn sigh, he arose and, walking
YEARLY across the track to where
he bench stood, made known his
''How's the country where you're
vorkin nowf" asked the old man.
steep, was the brief reply.
Here's what you want, then,"
landing down the implement from
Is resting place against a huge
stiffbacked saw for nde-
ing country"
Just then the boss" came and
aid: Guess you won't need that
oday. Big Johns partners in town,
ick, or drunk, or sumthin, an you'd
etter go an work in his place" II
No further instructions were need
d. The opportunity had come at
lst. To fell redwood had been
ranks aim ever since he hired out.
)ronning tha ssatiffhaclxr vpoa,.a
and forgetting all his
roes, he hurried OFF to oyertake his
tx friend of the breakfast table.