Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1902-01-23
swamp, and wading to and

IN MS work, n AFTER a few days OF
running lines and taking observa-
tons, he began to know that his re-
port was to be very satisfactory in its
final showing-far beyond the ex-
%pectation of his employers.
He had almost forgotten his
quondam companion when, in run
ming a new line through IN immepse
stand of sky%-scraping white pines, he
came upon fresh timber "slash"-a
broad, destructive piece of work,
which had laid low many thousands
of the giants.
Very sharply now he remembered
Frederick Zalmeier, and the gentle
mans anxiety to send him upon a for
eign errand. He understood in a fash
that, had he done that business, he
would have been left, minus boat and
supplies, to make his way homeward;
and in the meantime a company of
timber thieves would have got to
Rainy Lake river with their booty.
Perhaps they had already done so.
Secoin hurriedly followed the slash
to the river, where he discovered a
recently abandoned camp in the edge
of the timber. Following the river
several miles, he discovered that the
thieves were driving logs not a great
distance below. Once they got this
timber to Rainly Lake river there
would be no means of identifying a
log of it, and they could drift it at
leisure to the shore of Lake Superior.
The cruiser returned in much ex-
element to his camp which, a day or
two before, he had advanced beyond
the tamarack swamp. 1t was dark,
but on lighting a fire he saw a bulky
white envelope pinned to a nearby
tree-trunk. He tore it from it's fast
enings, and found it contained an
elaborate lumberman's estimate, in
duplicate, covering by forties every
section of the tract he had been sent
out to traverse. A smaller envelope
contained a letter which read:
Mr.. Secoin: You will please sign both
these estimates, return one to your folks,
and leave one with us. You will also
find herewith the certified check of John
Jones payable on demand by Oscar
Sterner, room IA, Superior building, Du-
luth, and money enough to pay your fare
from Beltrami to Duluth. A word to
the wise, and so forth. Zalmeier.
The check was for $4,000, and was
accompanied by a orn $40 bill. The
young cruiser sat choking with
wrath, yet not daring to act upon i'm
pulse. The thief might be watching,
and must be led to think that the
large bait he had flung was taken.
Secoin had no doubt that the check
would be made good upon his signing
and returning a false estimate-an
underestimate, which would easily
discourage his employers from fur
Their venture; the thieves would re-
tain the duplicate estimate. bearing
his signature, as a warranty that he
would fulfill his part of the fraud.
They could well afford to pay a con-
siderable sum for the certainty of
wilderness.
The cruiser carefully bestowed the
envelope in IN inside pocket, and
calmly set about getting his supper.
He was not surprised to discover that
all his supplies of food, except bare
ly enough to last four or five days,
had been stolen.
After he had eaten, he rolled him
self in his blanket, not to sleep, but
to think.
East of him, as he knew from his
cruisers map, lay the Chippewa res
ervation of Moose lake, and he deter
mined to reach the agency there at
the earliest possible moment.
He,lay in perfect quiet until the last
ember of his little fire had flickered
out. Then, putting his hand-ax in its
sheath, he crawled cautiously for 100
yards or more in the direction in
which he wished to go. Then he rose,
and with a trained instinct for points
of the compass set out upon his night
journey.
For several miles he hurried among
the great trunks of white and Norway
pines, then across rolling jack-pine
lands, until he reached the Moose
lake levels. Then he became en-
Hanged in a tamarack swamp; he
could see no stars, and his sense of
direction availed little. He lay in the
damp bog until daylight, and then
cut his way out. He reached Moose
lake agency at II o'clock in the morn
ing. The agent was in his office, but
had little patience for Secoin's story
and appeal for assistance.
II can't help you" he said. 81 can't
let IN employee or an Indian leave
the reservation upon your company's
errands."
Weary and somewhat discouraged,
the cruiser set out to seek informa-
ton from some n among the ma
tives, and at the very least to secure
a gun and ammunition; but the In
dams and half-breeds scattered about
in cabins and bark lodges regarded
with suspicion all his efforts to inter-
est them.
After a vain attempt to exchange
his ready money and his ak for an
effective breech-loader, he met on the
agency road a young man of about his
w age, carrying a medicine case.
This was the agency physician, a new
attache at Moose lake. Secoin intro
duced himself, and the young doctor,
| Glad to see a stranger. invited him
into his office.
There Secoin again told his story
and his necessities, setting forth his
plan Of action should he be able to
secure a messenger and a good gun
for himself.
go said the doctor, his face
| flushed with excitement, "you propose