The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1902-10-05

the marsh an hour or so AFTER sunrise.
The crew, OF course. were AZ Wotn oy
daylight. Dyer heard them orssn
chore-boy come In to build the IRE ana
an the water pail afresh. Aftsr time
the fire, built OF kerosene ana pitcny
black pine. would get SO hos that In
Ssls,detenss n1 ne would are ana
Thus he incurred the enmity OF the
cook and cookie. Those individuals have
to prepare food three times . day tor
half hundred eaters; besides which,,
on sleigh-haul. they are supposed 70
serve breakfast at 3 O'Clock for The
leaders and a variety OF lunches up to
midnight for the sprinkler men. A. q
consequence. they resent attractions
of the little system ;ney may have
been able to Introduce.
Now the business OF . foreman IS 10
be UP as soon as anybody. He does
none of the work himself. but he must
see that somebody e.se does Il. and
does 1t we'll. Re must know how -
be on hand nnexoecteily to see how
its accomplishment Is proeressin&.
Dyer should have been out OF bed at
first horn blow.
One morning ne slept until nearly 10
!. O'clock 1t was inexplicahIe! He hur-.
ried from his bunk, made hasty
toilet. and started for the dining
to get some sort Of a lunch to do HIM
until dinner time As he stepped from
the door of the Office he caught sight
of two men hurrying from the cook
camp to the mems camp. He thought
he heard the hum Of conversation In
the latter building. The cookee set
hot coffee before him. For the rest.
he, took what he could find cold on tho
table. z
Dyer sat down. feeling. for the first
time. little guilty. This was not be-
f0< <,. ~ -f,SH
duty. but because he feared the strong
mans contempt for inefficiency.
II sort of pounded m. ear a little
long this morning. b.. remarked with
an unwonted air or bonhomie.
The cook creased his paper with one
hand and went on reading.
Il suppose the men got out OF the
marsh on time" suggested Dyer, still
easily
The cook laid aside his paper and
looked the scaler in the eye.
You re the foreman: I'm the cook, -
said he. You ought to know
Dyer was no weakling. The prob
lem presenting. he rose to the enerS
gency. Without another word he
pushed back his coffee cup and cross
ed the narrow open passage to the
mems camp.
When he opened the door a silence
fell He could see dimly that the
ing lumbermen. As a matter of fact.
not a man had STREE out that MORN
ing
s.FIow's this. men, cried Dyer,
sharply: why aren't you out on the.
marsh o.
No one answered for moment Then
Baptiste:
..EIe max. too tam cole for de marsh
Meester Railway he spk ola we kip off
dat marsh w'een he max cole
Dyer knew that the precedent was
indisputable.
why didn't you cut on eight them
he asked still in peremptory tones.
Didn't have no one to show us
where to begin, drawled a voice In
the corner.
Dyer turned on his heel and went
out.
The crew worked on the marsh that
afternoon, and the subsequent days
of the week. They labored conscien-
tiously. but not zealousfy. The work
moved slowly. At Christmas a NUM-
bel. of the men went out. Most OF
them were back again after four or.
five days. for. while men were not
e plenty. neither was WORK. The eQuil-
ibirum was nearly exact.
But the convivials had lost to Dyer
the days of their debauch. Instead OF
keeping up to fifty thousand day..
as Railway had figured was necessary.
the scale would not have exceeded
thirty.
(To Be Continued.}