The Savannah morning news., 1902-09-28

1t with a bump across the two paral-
lei skids, and left it there to be rolleo
to the top of the pile.
Then Mike McGovern and Bob STRAIT
ton and Jim Gladys took charge Of 1t.
Mike and Bob were running the can't
hooks, while Jim stood on top or the
great pile of logs already decked.
slender, pliable steel chain, like gray
snake ran over the top of the pile and
disappeared through a pulley to an IN
visible horse-Jenny, the mate of Mol
ly. Jim threw the end of this chain
down. Bob passed it over and under
the log and returned it to Jim, who
reached down after it with the hook
of his implement. Thus the stick of
timber rested in a long loop, one end
of which led to the invisible horse, and
the other Jim made fast to the top
of the pile. He did so by tanning
into another log the steel swamp-hook
with which the chain was armed >
When all was made fast, the horse
started.
shes a bumper!" said Bob. Look
out. Mike"
The log slid to the foot of the two
parallel poles laid slanting up the face
of the pile Then it trembled on the
ascent. But one end stuck for an in
slant. and at once the log took on a
dangerous slant. Quick as light Bob
and Mike sprang forward, gripped the
hooks of the cant-hooks, like great
thumbs and fore-fingers. and, while
one held with all his power. the other
gave a sharp twist upward. The log
straightened. 1t was a master feat of
power, and the knack of applying
strength justly.
At the top of the little incline the
timber lowered for a second.
lone more" sang out Jim to the
driver. He poised, stepped lightly up
and over, and avoided by the safe
hairs breadth being crushed when the
log rolled. But it did not lie quite
straight or even. So Mike cut short
thick block. and all three stirred the
heavy timber sufficiently to admit of
the billet's insertion.
Then the chain was thrown down for
another.
Jenny, harnessed only to a short,
straight bar with a hook in it, leaned
to her collar and dug her hoofs at
the word of command. The driver,
close to her tail held fast the slender
steel chain by an ingenious hitch about
the ever-useful sWamp-hook. When
Jim shouted "whoai" from the top of
the skidway, the driver did not trouble
to stop the horse-he merely let go the
denly, as is meet and proper in such
ticklish business. He turned and walk
ed back, and Jenny, like a dog with
out the necessity of command, follow
ed him in slow patience.
Now came Dyer, the scaler, rapidly
down the logging road a small, slen-
der man with d little, turned-up mus
tache The men disliked him because
of his affection of city smartness,
and because he never ate with them,
even when there was plenty of room.
The scalers duty at present was to
measure the diameter of the logs in
each skidway, and so compute the
number of board feet At the office
he tended van, kept the books and
looked after supplies.
He approached the SkidWay rapidly,
laid his flexible rule across the face
of each log, made a mark on his pine
tablets in the column to which the
log belonged, thrust the tablet in the
pocket of his coat, seized a blue cray
on, in a long holder, with which he
made an as indication that the log
had been scaled, and finally tapped
several times strongly with q sledge-
hammer. On the face of the hammer
in relief was an M inside of a delta.
This was the company's brand, and
so the log was branded as belonging
to them. He swarmed over the skid
way, rapid and ascribed, in strange
activity to the slower power of the
actual skidding. In a moment he
moved on to the next scene of opera
lions without having said a word to
any of the men.
"A fine ting" said Mike, splitting
So day after day the work went en-
Railway spent his time tramping
through the woods, figuring on new
work, showing the men how to do
things better or differently, discussing
minute expedients with the black
smith, the carpenter. the cook.
He was not without his troubles
First he had not enough men; the
snow lacked. and then came too
abundantly; horses fell sick of collie or
caulked themselves; supplies ran low
unexpectedly; trees turned out punk; -
a certain bit of ground proved soft
for travoying, and so on. At election
time, of course a number of the men
went out.
election time, another and important
character entered the North woods and
our story.
CHAPTER II.
On the evening in question, some
thirty or forty miles southeast of Rad
ways camp a train was crawling over
a badly laid track that led toward the
Saginaw valley. The whole affair was
very crude. To the edge of the right