The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1902-10-12

D
| derness smiled. and calmly, relentless
/ ly, moved her next pawn.
1t was all so unutterably simple. and
All night and all day the great
| fakes zig-zagged softly down through
the air Railway ploughed away two
feet of it. The surface was promptly
covered by a second storm. Railway
doggedly ploughed it out again.
This time the goddess seemed to re-
/ lent. The ground froze solid. The
sprinklers became assiduous in their
labor. Two days later the road was
ready for the first sleigh, its surface
of thick CLASSY ice, beautiful to be-
hold; the ruts cut deep and true; the
glades sanded or sprinkled with re-
tarding hay on the descents. At the
river the banking ground proved solid.
Railway breathed again, then sighed.
Spring was eight days nearer. He was
eight days more behind.
AS soon as loading began, the cook
served breakfast at o'clock. The men
worked by the light of torches. which
were often merely catsup jugs with
wicking in the necks. Nothing could
be more picturesque than a teamster
conducting one of his great pyramidic-
al loadsoVer the little inequalities of the
road. in the ticklish places standing
atop with the bent knee of the Roman
charioteer, spying and forestalling the
chances of the way with a fixed eye
and an intense concentration that re-
Taxed not one inch in the miles of the
haul. Thorpe had become a full
fedged cant-hook man.
He liked the work. There is about 1t
a skill that fascinates. A man grips
suddenly with the hook of his strong
instrument, stopping one end that the
other may slide: he thrusts the short,
strong stock between the log and the
skid, allowing ii to be overrun: he stops
the roll with a sudden sure grasp ap-
piled at just the right moment to be
effective. Sometimes he allows him
self to be carried up bodily. clinging to
the cant-hook like an acrobat to a bar
until the log has rolled once; when, his
weapon loosened, he drops lightly, east
ly to the ground. And IL is exciting to
pile the logs on the sleigh. first a lay
er of five, say: then one of six small
er; of but three; of two; until, at the
very apex, the last is dragged slowly
up the skids. poised, and, just as it is
about to plunge down the other side is
gripped and held inexorably by the lit
tie men in blue flannel shirts.
Chains bind the loads. And If ever.
during the loading, or afterwards when
the sleigh is in motion, the weight OF
the logs causes the pyramid to break
down and squash out-then woe to the
driver. or whoever happens to be near.
For this reason the leaders are picked
and careful men.
At the banking grounds, which lie
In and about the bed of the river. the
logs are piled into a gigantic skidway
TO await the spring freshets, which will
carry them down stream to the
boom" In that enclosure they re-
main until sawed in the mill
Thorpe, in common with the other
men, had thought Railways vacation
at Christmas time a mistake. He could
not but admire the feverish animation
/ that onw characterized the jobber.
Every mischance was as quickly re-
paired as aroused expedient could do
the work
Esprit de corps awoke. The men
slrang to their tasks with alacritv.
gave more than an hours exertion to
each of the twenty four, took a pride
In repulsing the assaults of the great
enemy, whom they personified under
the generic "She"
One morning in February. Thorpe
was helping load big butt log He
was one of the two men who stand al
either end of the skids to help the as
cending log keep straight and true to
its bed on the pile. His assistants end
caught on a silver, ground for a sec
ord, and slipped back Then the log
ran slanting across the skids insteaa
of perpendicular to them. To rectify
the fault, Thorpe dug his cant-hook
into the timber and threw his weight
on the stock. He hoped in this manner
to check correspondingly the ascent of
his end. In other words. he took the
place, on his side, of the preventing
silver, so equalizing the pressure and
forcing the timber to its proper posi-
ton. Instead of rolling, the log slid.
The stock of the cant-hook was jerked
from his hands. He fell back. and the
cant-hook, after clinging for a moment
to the rough bark. snapped down and
lit him crushing blow on the top Of
the head.
They took Thorpe up and carried him
in. just as they had carried Hank Paul
before. Men who had not spoken a dCz-
en- words to him in as many days gath
cred his few belongings and stuffed
them awkwardly into his satchel. Jack
son Hines prepared the bed of straw
and warm blankets in the bottom OF
the sleigh that was to take him out
He would have made a good boss, "
said the old fellow. Hes \ hard man
to nick
CHAPTER VIII.
self, he was in a long, bright, clean
room, and the sunset was throwing
splashes of light on the ceiling over
his head.
He watched them idly for a time;
then turned on his pillow. At once he
perceived a long, double row of clear
white-painted iron beds, on which lay
| or sat figures of men. Other figures
| of women, glided here and there noise
| leSSly. They wore long, spreading
dove-gray clothes, with starcheG
white kerchief drawn over their Shout
I ders and across the breast Their
heads were quantity white-garbed ir
| stiff winglike colts, sitting close about
the oval of the face. Then Thorpe
sighed comfortably, and closed his eye.
and blessed the chance that he hac
bought a hospital ticket of the agent
who had visited camp the month be.
| fore. For these were Sisters, and the
young man lay in the Hospital of st
Mary.
Like a great many other charities
built on a common-sense self-support.
ing rational basis, the woods hospitals
are under the Roman Catholic Church
From one of the numerous agents who
periodically visit the camps, the lum.
ber-jack purchases for eight dollars q
ticket which admits him at any time
during the year to the hospital, where
he is privileged to remain free Of fur.
Their charge until convalescent Sc
valuable are these institutions, and sc
excellently are they maintained by the
Sisters, that a hospital agent is al.
ways welcome. even in those camps
from which ordinary peddlers and in.
surance men are rieidly excluded