The Appeal. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. ;) 1889-19??, 1900-04-28

OH III abundant growth Of timber
which was natures heritage,
any self-respecting log job
beT If his attention had been directed to
the desolate Kettle Creek region, would
have turned up his nose disdainfully and
PASSED on to greener fields. But the days
when a contractor could choose his place
of residence are practically past, and so
it was that Hank Bellman was reduced
to the extremity last fall of erecting his
shanty and starting operations in the
heart of the jurgle-like forest overlooking
Kettle Creek. The camp is fitted into a
little patch Of cleared ground far over the
mountain top A narrow turnpike winds
up to it from the highway hundreds Of
feet below, and beyond it, extending into
the wilderness, great wastes Of fallen
trees, stumps and piles of hemIock bark
show what the woodman's ak has been
doing. all winter. Directly surrounding
the shanty the trees have not ali been re-
moved, and on the frosty winter nights,
when the snow hangs in great layers
uron the heavy branches and the air is
so crisp and keen that sound travels
through II with as much precision as
though shot from a megaphone, the
panthers and catamounts climb into the
tall timber and wake the slumbering,
echoes of tho forest, as we'll sa the boys
In the camp with their Wild ard dismal
howlings
One Of those nights came about a month
ago. The panthers and wildcats yelled
mere furiously, it seemed, than they
had done before during the winter, and
added to their woeful wailings was the
voice of the north wind as it tossed the
asnow against the wea ther-beateu sides
Of the shanty. For that night the silanty
as good enough for the boys. ;, When
supper was over and the storm showed no
slg1.s of abating they all gathered to-
gether in the big lobby, which is home,
club, society and Sunday school to them,
and prepared to make the best Of night
indoors. Now these woodsmen are not
the sort Of men who can spend an even
Ing over book or enjoy themselves at
any tame diversion, and on this night
even jack poker had no charm for them.
The fact is that they were just in the
r mood to listen to one of Bill al Blake s
stories .5&
1t was Blake, who. on a cold winters
night ten years ago, entered a .dive''
lin the Pigs Ear district of Potter coun-
ty and, with a revolver in each hand,
forced the landlord and guests out into
the street, after which he filed up on
the best whisky. in the house. Then,
when the proprietor returned with a
posse Of armed men, Blake barricaded
himself in the cellar and would neither
emerge nor allow any one to enter until
entire immunity was promised by the
Blowville constable
Say, Bill" said one of the woodsmen
what tarnal cussedness ever possessed
you to leave the good job you had in the
Slate Run camp last fall and come up
to this pesky hole?'
Bill Blake puffed contemplatively at
his pipe for a moment, after which he
said: a.
We'll, mebby I had purity good rea-
d son, if 1 wanted to tell.''
Then he laughed quietly. Nobody spoke
and when Bill had finally gone over the
details in his own mind, ne continued:
You see I'd never have gone to the
Slate Run job in the first place. but for
one thing. Down at the city, where had
" lovely suit as coachman for a rich
lady, 1 got knocked out in love affair
You needn't grin, Shorty. I kept myself
purity spick-an-span on that job, an
If do say it, they want many han SOM
er ribbon singers drivin' down the pike.
WALL who the gal was don't matter, an
II
was at cut me out. I only mention the
incident for the sake of explainin' why
1t was at ever went back to the lumber
business at all.
You see, everything went sort O. con-
trary with me in town after that 1 got
SICK OF the whole business, an ali the time
while / was drivin' them spanl1in' bosses
through the streets my mind would keep
a-runnin' back to the old camp life, where
knowed they want like to be no dudes
nor no gals to play hide-an' -go-seek with
fellers heart. So back I goes to the
Old Slate. Run job. where 1 was well
known an only had to whistle to get
work
wall, the very first night I went in
the camp | made up my mind it want
no use for me to try to get away from
the gals. Right in that camp they was
two as purity gals as you'd care to see
nieces of the boss wife, I guess. avis
tin thar, they told me, for their health.
!. found out afore was in the camp
very long at they was a little too healthy
for that place as it was, an youth see
purity soon what made me think so.
The damsels started right in by firth.
with me, an they was so winsome at /
forgot all about the city gal right away.
* : tiiSl Sill Ldll Way IN the f1lrtlns game
4 an 1t seemed to me at was in clover.
The other fellers was all gettin' jealous of
4 the way the gals was shinin' round me
but it want exactly my fault if they
{ want in it. SO didn't bother about that.
Wall, things went on lovely for about a
Week, an one night the gals says to me.
they says: Let's go along down an get
some apples
NOW the chard was quite a WAYS be-
low the camp an it was closed il. nv q f,ie.
board fence about six feet high. Of course
Went. We had a jolly time goin' toward
the % chard an the gals seemed more
ioV1n to me than ever. When we got thar
an l seed the high fence I wanted to help
Inc gals over, but they says: No, YOU 90
fust an then wei foller So of course j
Went. put board up to the fence an,
climb over an then waited to ketch the
gals WALL It must have been a nlir,1te
81 waited thar an didn't hear sound
erom the other side
9 s. es, says T to myself, Il see What
H they're at: they don't want me to help ,en,
over after all. Then Z says out lind
sort q pleasant like %, Il thought you,d
Sschange your minds. purity desaries!, Bit
heysswa NJ no answer. an, begins to Get
kinder mad. was Just startin Is lSok
+ over the fence an see what was the master