The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1899-04-19

II was dark as tar, and Cold--how
cold IL was! 1t was rough, too. The
wind swept fiercely through the great
trees. and swished the snow sharply
against the one window in the little
camp. The small, low door, tuggcd now
and then. with considerable violence at
the leather strap that held 1t shut, while
occasionally a loose split on the roof
tapped up and down in the fierce wind.
Not unfrequently a puff of smoke came
from the stove.
Hugh Mcneil pulled off his mocca-
sins and threw them towards the stove.
Il was thinlin" he said, as he did
So II was thnkn' it'd h" rough to-
night I didn't like the looks o things
out there on the yard this afternoon
he went on, AN more. we hain't had
more'n half O what's comm to us this
winter yit. I wouldn't wonder but we'd
git a big plug o it this time. There
somethin' comm this time that's sure.
Ned, ye min them noises we heard last
night out by the Hollow. That wasn't
no fox, nor wolf neither; that was an
Indian devil, an I'll stan half a months
wages agin any man in the crew yen
hear more o. him fore s9ring."
Hugh stopped: then took his usual
place on the deacon seat. No one spoke.
For some minutes the camp was per-
fectly still. Hugh's remarks, especially
those that referred to the source of the
sounds that had been heard. struck the
crew deeply-such remarks always did.
The crew in the camp on the Casta-
way was not in any way different from
the crews in any of the numerous
camps to be found dotted all over the
lumber sections of northern and east
ern New Brunswick and Maine. There
fk.. of, -,
etiquette. the same critera by which
individual acts were judged, the same
subordination to the tales and tradi-
tiOns of "the woods" and withal, the
same firm-sea belief in that mvs-
teriouS embodyment known in the lum-
Der sections from New HAMPSHIRE to
New Brunswick as the Indian Devil
This object-be it beast OF spirit, on
both--has in it. and about it, strange
fear-filling notions for the average
lumberman of the north. The lumber
men, as a rule, is not timid--the very
opposite; there Is a stern severity in
his environment that has worked itself
into his nature, and has made him in
some respects not unlike the trees OF
the forests where he moves. But with
all his strength Of mind and character,
there are in the ordinary man of the
woods, unmistakable traits of weak-
ness. He is nothing, If not Superstit-
iOuS. Indeed the action Of a bird the
unlocking of a chain certain number
of times, the sickening of a horse the
bursting of a dam or the hearing Of
sounds in the woods at night, are all,
TO the lumberman'S mind, antecedents
of certain and important consequences.
This is why there was silence for some
time In the camp. The silence gave re-
newed emphasis to the storm.
Outside the giant hemlocks, among
which the camp was built for protec-
ton. roared and swayed as the fierce
wind swept down from the hills and
snote them in all its fury. The loose
slat fiarped again and the sides of the
little camp strained almost to the
breaking point.
1T will be rough, Hugh, that's sar-
tim" at length broke in Ned Fearn;
AN as for the soun's, yer right. Ia
rather back We than bet We on what We
say bout them"
There was another pause. Ned and
Hugh were both old hands in the
woods. They knew the woods and the
woods mysteries. And the rest of the
crew We're aware of this: so when
these two spoke as they did, is it any
wonder that the men Of the crew took
their remarks somewhat seriously? Of
course, in camps as elsewhere, there
are sceptics, but after all, it is quite
within the mark to say that of lumber
men, there is not more than one in ten
who is sceptical on the matter Of
omens. If there is one in ten, he
keeps his unbelef severely to himself,
for there are things lumbermen will
not tolerate, and one Of them is parad-
i 4 IL,
trary to those generally accepted. SO
the unbeliever keeps quiet-he has II.
Our crew was not large. Besides the
cook, Hugh, Ned and myself, there
We're but six. Hugh chopped, Ned held
the office of walking boss and turned
his hand to a variety of jobs while l
was no less a parsonage than team
ster.
one of our crew was Ike Wallace, an
indian. Directly Hugh had spoken of
the sounds by the Hollow-GhOst HOl-
low was the proper name-I noticed
Ike move merVuusly. He was n good
man in the woods, and on the drive,
but a poor taker. This was why Ike
was so popular. lie had learned the
truth that the shortest and surcst way
to the good eraces of "a crew was by
holding his '""gue. One must do that
in lumber camp.
But Ike, i'm addition to being true
woodsman. was a true Indian. He
was strong in his belief regarding the
Great Spirit and His manifestations.
He believed in an Indian Devil. More
than once he had been known to tell
with bated breath, of strange 'Npcri-
ences with that awful object. How he
he'd heard its fear-filling wall come
dc Wn the woods on dark nights; how
it had followed him in the trcc-tops
as he flew along the narrow frozen
streams; how il had hovercd at times
death-angcl-like almost above him:
how it had sprung, but, miscalculating
his speed, had fallen behind.