The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1902-10-19

J before. The decapitated stumps were
already beginning to turn brown with
weather. the tangle of tops and limbs
! was partially concealed by poplar
; growths and wild raspberry vines.
To Thorpe this particular clearing
became at once of the greatest interest.
He scrambled over and through the
ugly debris which for a year or two
after logging operations cumbers the
ground. BY a rather prolonged search
he found what he sought-the sec
ton corners" of the tract. on which the
government surveyor had long ago
marked the descriptions" A glance
at the map confirmed his suspicious
The slashing lay some two miles
north Of the sections designated as be-
longing to private parties. 1t was
Government land.
Thorpe sat down, lit a pipe, and did
a little thinking.
He had that very morning passed
through beautiful timber lying much
nearer the mouth of the river than
either this or the sections further
south. Why had these men deliberately
assembled the stream? Why had they
stolen timber eighteen miles from the
bend, when they could equally we'll
have stolen just as good fourteen miles
nearer the terminus of their drive?
Thorpe suddenly remembered the two
dams, and his idea that the men In
charge of the river must be wealthy
and must intend operating on a large
scale. He thought he glimpsed il.
After another pipe, he felt sure.
The Unknowns were indeed going in
on large scale. They intended event
ually to log the whole of the Ossawin-
anna kee basin. For this reason they
had made their first purchase, planted
their hrst foothold, near the head
waters Some day they would buy all
the standing government pine in the
basin; but in the meantime they would
steal all they could at a sufficient dis
lance from the lake to minimize the
danger of discovery. Every stick cut
meant so much less to purchase later
on.
Thorpe knew that men occupied in
so precarious business would be keen
ly on the watch. At the first hint of
rivalry they would buy in the timber
they had selected. But the situation
had set his fighting blood to racing.
They undoubtedly wanted the tract
down river. Well. so did he
He purposed to look it over care
fully, to ascertain its exact boundaries
and what sections it would be neces-
sary to buy in order to include it, and
perhaps even to estimate it in a rough
way. In the accomplishment of this
he would have to spend the summer,
and perhaps part of the fall, in that
district he could hardly expect to
escape notice. BY the indications on
the river, he judged that a crew OF
men had shortly before taken out
drive of logs. After the timber had
been RATED and towed to Marquette
they would return. He might be able
to hide in the forest but sooner or
later, he was sure, one of the COM
panys land-lookers or hunters would
stumble on his camp. Then his very
concealment would tell them what he
was after. The risk was too great.
For above all things Thorpe needed
time. He had, as has been said. to
ascertain what he could offer. Then
he had to offer it. He would be forced
to interest capital and that is a mat
ter of persuasion and leisure
Finally his shrewd, intuitive good
sense flashed the solution on him. He
returned rapidly to his pack, assumed
the straps, and arrived at the first dam
about dark of the long summer day.
There he looked carefully about him.
Some fifty feet from the waters edge
a birch knoll supported, besides the
birches, a single big hemlock. With
his belt ak, Thorpe cleared away the
little white trees. He struck the sharp
ened end of one of them in the bark
other end in a crotch eight or ten feet
distant, slanted the rest of the saplings
along one side of this ridge pole. and
turned in, after a hasty supper, leaV-
ing the completion of his permanent
camp to the morrow.
In, the morning he matched smooth
the roof of the shelter, using for the
purpose the thick branches of hem
locks; placing two green spruce logs
side by side as cooking range; slung
his pot on a rod across two forked
sticks; cut and split a quantity of
wood; spread his blankets and called
himself established
For some days he made no effort to
look over the pine, nor did he intend
TO begin until he could be sure of do
ing so in safety. His object now was
TO give his knoll the appearance of
trapper's camp.
Toward the end of the week he re-
ceived his first visit Evening was
gagged in cooking a painful of trout
Suddenly he became aware of a pres
ence at his side.
How do" greeted the newcomer
gravely
The man was an Indian, silent. SOL
emn, with the straight. unwinking gaze
of his race.
How do" replied Thorpe.
The Indian without further ceremony
threw his pack to the ground, and.
squatting on his heels, watched the
white mans preparations. When the
meal was cooked, he coolly produced a
knife, selected a clean bit of hemlock
bark and helped himself Then he lit
pipe, and gazed keenly about him.
What you dor he inquired after
long silence, punctuated by the puffs
of tobacco.
Hunt; trap; fish," replied Thorpe
with equal sententiousness
Good" concluded the Indian after
ruminative pause.
That night ne slept on the ground.
Next day he made a better shelter than
Thorpe's in less than half the time:
and was off hunting before the sun
was an hour high. He was armed with
an old-fashioned smooth-bore muzzle-
loader; and Thorpe was astonished, af-
ter he had become better acquainted
with his new companions methods, TO
ind that he hunted deer with fine bird
shot. The Indian never expected to
Kill or even mortally wound his game;
"a W ~ N