Williston graphic. (Williston, Williams County, N.D.) 1895-1919, 1897-12-17
II Swift Vengeance.
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CEARCHING for a similc you would
y in all probability lil1en the lumber

} in all probability liken the lumber
Hume to centipede~- "A giant centipedc
a monstrous centipede. winding its
way down the mountain, twisting
around point here and twinlling its
thousands Of long pine legs in the sun
light as it leaped across !: canyon there,
crawling for protection at times under
the overhanging shelf of rock and
again pausing at the crest Of q sharply
inclined hill before plunging over and
down into the valley below, where the
mill and the box factory and the rail
road trains waited. Sometimes it's legs
were long and stiltlike in appearance
ard that was when it spanred the cam
yon with the river and the stage track
at it's bottom. and sometimes those legs
were mere stubs and accomplished no
ether purpose than TO brace the trough
in proper position as it burrowed along
an excavated shelf of the mountain,
working its writing way down, down,
down. Here and there a smaller trough,
fed it with water stolen from the creek.
the stream being tapped half mile
above, so that despite spillage and leak
age and other subtraction there should
always be enough of the liquid lubri-
cant running in the hume to make the
passage of lumber easy and eNpe-
Gitious.
''Sandy's'' was midway of the climb.
"Sandy's" was little white ranchhouse
built alongside the stage road. The
front door opened directly upon the
road and there was no back door. for the
nfl a7 md Of no
feet above the dipping side of the hill.
1t was five miles to the top of the noun
tain where Sandy himself supervised
the logging work. and so his daughte:
Becky was alone in the ranchhouse for
long terms-''for a week at a stretch
as she would express it. Sandy seldom
stretched it beyond q week. for he had
some notion of the drear lonesomeness
OF life in that isolated house and made
it his pleasant duty to come down every
Saturday night with Sam Harkins. the
stage driver. and accompany him up
the hill on Mondays. And through the
week he made frequent trips down the
almost vertical side of the hill and
climbed laboriously back again after
having frightened for time not only
the life of the 13-year-old girl. but also
his own. In winter when there was no
possibility of using the fume because
Of the fabulous depths of snow the fore
man and his little daughter went down
to the city where the railroad and the
mill and the box factory were, to hiber-
nate and to enable Becky to go to
school.
Sandy induced the company to cut
into the house the telephone which ran
down the mountain as consort to tho
fume. So that. after considering all
things, Becky was provided for with
decent comfort and managed the mea
gerly patronized post Office and tele
pboned to the headquarters of the com
pany the hour of Sam Harkins' arrival
and Of his departure. and made dinner
for the stage driver and performed the
other functions peculiar to a handy half
way house.
Mr.. Chong Go Kwee's common desig-
nation was Bad jim. and the appellation
fitted him to a nicely on seven days OF
the week. He was a husky villain, who
could get more muscle into the work OF
Juggling timber than any three other
a. thC loI' VI ZIG
but he possessed the mystery of evoIv-
ing Chinese gin apparently out of moth
ingness. like wizard. and of drinking
into fierce moods which meant
trouble to whomsoever should cross his
path. Sandy discharged Chong several
times, but wasaobliged to reengage him
because the other men of his sun-kissed
la..e were afraid to work while he. nurs |
my a sore heart, was abroad in the !
Besides. although they |
Kept That secret, they were not above
quiet love for his Chinese gin of secret
reation.
The Tuesday morning without which
his history would be quite unnecessary
pened bright and clear with Bad Jim
cry drunk and anxious to find that
ian who had said, according to .Jim's
WI disturbed dreams. that he could
hip him. Instead he found Sandy,