The Opelousas courier., 1898-08-13
81 e>en with that high-strung
Wy

admire nohow. ID sensible gal would
wear 'em to q dance; but- then I've
been thinking I diddS 10 tae>, squar
thing tonight, cap, ESQ when ys' see
the gal agin jest tell her I'm SOFT.
tore her dress; I didn't 60 for to do IT.
nohow. You'll tell hey
Farnham said that be would. River
Dan was g%arrulous, and did most OF
the talking, and the little book-keeper
felt that under his -ough manners the
all.
"You see, I'd been takin' too many
drinks, was what allied me, cap. !
wouldn't insult no respectable gal for
nothin' in the world"
The explanation and apology were
ample, and all this had come about
without bad blood, a row and bloody
faces. On the whole, Farnham felt
that he had pursued the wisest
course, after all.
The little bookkeeper left River
Dan at the dam and finished his jour
ney to Oxbow alone.
Mr.. Lyon made no mention of the
trouble at the dance to his book
keeper. His daughter gave an account
of her escorts cowardice, but the
lumberman failed to take that interest
his daughter desired.
Matters went on after the old fash
ion. Mark Farnham had been a fire.
quent visitor at the Lyon house, but
since the dance at Maple Top he had
held himself aloof. The little book
keeper had been hit in a tender spot
and he could not forget how Janet
looked when she uttered the word
coward.
The foreman came often to Oxbow,
and Janet and the handsome Apollo
were much together. The loggers
coupled the name of the two, and in
timated that Dick would feather his
nest before long. The little book
keeper heard, but remained silent.
He could not discuss a subject that
was of a most painful nature to him.
He believed Janet cared something for
him, until that affair at the Maple
Top dance. From that time she had
cut him effectively. He had pride, as
we'll as the belle Of the Muskegon, and
from that fatal night they met as
strangers.
The pallor of the little ~bookkeeper's
face seemed to deepen. His eyes
were hollow, and his cheeks sunken.
He attended to business devotedly,
and nc one noticed any change in
little Mark Farnham.
The winter passed. Late in March
the ice in the river began to move.
Soon a tremendous roaring filed the
ears of the citizens Of Oxbow. Peo-
pie gathered on the bank to see the
ice 60 out. 1t was a grand sight, as
the huge cakes, nearly a foot in thick
ness, went crashing down over the
dam with a mighty seething, grinding
roar.
On with irresistible fury swept the
mighty mass, hurled with tremendous
fury by the rapidly rising waters
which the warn spring rains had
augmented to a mighty flood. Cloae
behind the ice came a mighty jam of
pine logs. The river was fast clog
ging, and o huge jam was formed
against the dam which had lately been
built across the river.
"a jam must not be permitted to
form there" cried John Lyon, as he
saw the rolling and tumbling mass of
logs hating, choking the river on the
brink of the dam.
Among those gathered on the bank
was River Dan from the dam.
sect your pick-levers, boysl" he
cried in a loud voice.
The logs had already formed a jam,
and men in red shirts, with picks and
..peevies, were foeking to the danger
GUS jam, working with might and
main to keep the mighty mass of
pine moving.
The female portion of Oxbow was
out watching the movements of the
red-shirts. Right in the center of the
river, not far from where the water
boiled and seethed over the dam,
was Dick Wellington, giving orders
in a stentorian voice. It was a dan
gerous place, and Janet Lyons
cheeks blanched as she a him.
The logs on the further shore were
kept moving, and the current of the
river swept that way with the fury of
an avalanche. The red-shirts had
been working an hour with desper-
ate energy, and many of them were
exhausted.
$50 ashore, boys, and get a lunch;
the greatest danger is past; Yelling
ton and I will hold the fort until you
return"
It was Mr.. Lyon who spoke. He
had gone to the center of the river
with the GOODNESS of an old log-driver.
The men obeyed. The greater part
Of the logs had passed, the principal
danger being over. Half the river
was yet blocked with logs piled to a
great hight, forming a jam that looked
impregnable.
Scarcely had the last man reached
the shore, when a wild cry rose
above the roar of the foaming water:
"Merciful Powers! The whole jam
is going!"
Then wild with a loud cracking, a
terrific roar, and logs went with a
mighty rush over the dam on the Ok
bow shore.
"Good heaven! They ale lost!"
This cry went up, as all eyes were
turned upon Mr.. Lyon and lis fore
man, now the only occupants OF the
jam. It did seem as though they were
doomed, but they were saved for the
time as by q miracle. In the center
Of the dam . few of the logs held
firm, and soon all had swept through