Republican news item. [volume] (Laport, Pa.) 1896-19??, 1901-01-10
HJORTH HJORYESEN'S ADVENTURE.
By HUGH w. BEAL.

| erly possessed by Hicks.
At noon the missing men appeared,
| bearing unmistakable signs of hav-
| ing spent the night in carousing.
| Hicks was enraged when told that
| the foreigner was now the leader of
| the gang, and that he himself could
| either leave or go to work as a COM
mon laborer. AS he had flung away
| all his wages, he could not afford to
| leave. So he suppressed his rage and
| went to work.
Big Peter felt his degradation keen
| ly, and with his boon companions re-
| garded Hjorth as usurper.
Toward evening of the following
day, Saturday, the men expected that
| their new foreman would appoint one
| of them to inspect the slide, and thus
| avoid the disagreeable duty himself;
| but he told them to quit work at the
| usual time, and then started upon his
| tour of inspection.
After Hjorth had disappeared,
| Hicks and four of his companions,
| leaving the other men still at work,
walked away southwark, plunged down
| into thick growth of saplings, and
| disappeared.
They were absent for more than an
| hour. When. flushed and bosterous,
| they returned from the Illicit still, the
sun was disappearing and all the
| other lumbermen had left the scene.
Sitting down on a large log that
was awaiting it's turn to be launched,
| they fell into talk about Hjoryesen,
IL,
membering that the object of their
wrath was still below them, some one
| proposed to frighten him by launch
| ing the log down the slide.
| They rose, seized the untrimmed
log upon which they had been sitting,
and brought it round to the slide.
| Then they lowered it, large end
first, until no more than four feet pro-
! jected above. Still they held on,
half afraid to let it CO.
| Was Hjorth in the slide? If so, the
log would but give him fright pro-
vided he were far enough away to get
out on hearing it coming at him.
wait, there he comes now!"
Hicks exclaimed.
| Picking up bough about seven feet
long, he laid it horizontally across the
end of the slide in such manner that
it caught on projecting knot of the
log and held it in place.
| Through the gloom of early evening
Hjoryesen could be discerned about
hundred yards below.
| When he stepped from the slide,
he found the men grouped in his way.
| Hardly noticing them, Hjorth at
| tempted to pass. But Hicks placed
| his burly hand upon the youths
! shoulder, and thrusting a bottle under
| his nose, said:
Have a drink"
| Hjoryesen gazed calmy into the eyes
of his enemy. Then he shook off the
offending hand
Hicks, drunk enough to be wicked,
seized the lad by the collar and tried
to force the bottle into his mouth.
| Hjorth sent it spinning into the air.
| Big Peter tried to grapple the Nor
wegian, and received stinging blow
| in the face that sent him tumbling
dangerously near steep embank-
| ment.
| Then the other four rushed at
| Hjoryesen. He knocked one down and
| struggled furiously with the other
| three, but was soon overpowered by
the united attack and borne to the
ground. 4 rope was passed round him
and his arms tied in front of his body.
| Hjorth made no outcry.
I'm fix you, you young panther"
| sold Hicks uipinD tho h1nnI from his
face. They seized the PROSTATE youth
and carried him to the edge of the
precipice.
NO. don't throw him over. Send
| him down the slide!" shouted Hicks.
| "Hooray!" cried another.
| They threw Hiorth backward on the
| log already in the slide. A second
rope was passed round his waist and
knotted to the log.
Now will you drink" said Hicks.
Never" said the boy. white with
rage.
You'd sooner have q ride over the
slide. would you?"
Murder me, You've got the power
to do that. But drink with you | will
not" said Hjorth. in his own tongue.
Hicks had meant To frighten. not to
kill the young foreman,
Ill pry your teeth open!" he cried.
and strobe furiously back for
| stick.
The words were hardly out of
| Hicks mouth when his leg struck the
retaining branch, The log was OF with
| Hjorth In an instant.
| li.eks shrieked with horror and flung
himself to the ground. The others
stared at where the log had in three
seconds disappeared. Far down the
chute they heard II roaring away into
silence. Hicks rose. All looked at him
in terror,
Wen hang for this" ha cried.
With one impulse they took To their
heels to find a hiding place.
a.