The Savannah morning news., 1902-11-23

Continued from last Sundays NeWs.]
CHAPTER XXVI.
Winter set in early and continued
late; which in the end was a good
thing for the years cut. The season
was capricious. hanging for days at
a time at the brink of a thaw, only
to stiffen again into severe weather.
This was trying on the nerves. For
at each of these false alarms the six
camps fell into a feverish haste to
get the job finished before the break
up. 1t was really quite extraordinary
how much was accomplished under the
nagging spur of weather conditions and
the cruel rowelling of Thorpe.
The latter had now no thought be-
yond his work, and that was the
thought of a mailman. He had been
stern and unyielding enough before,
goodness knows, but now he was ter
rible. Not for an instant was there
resting spell The veriest chore-boy
talked thought. dreamed of nothing
but saw logs Men whispered vaguely
Of a record cut. The difficulties Of
snow, accident, topography were swept
aside like straws. Little time was
wasted and no opportunities. 1t dld
not matter how smoothly affairs nap
pened to be running for the moment,
every advantage, even the smallest,
60 aaoarl,, seized IN advance the
work A drop of five degrees during
the frequent warm spells brought out
the sprinklers, even in dead of night.
At night the men fell into their hunks
like sandbags, and their last conscious
though, if indeed they had any at all,
was of eagerness for the morrow. III
was madness: but 1t was the madness
these men loved.
For now to his old religion Thorpe
had added a fanaticism, and over the
fanaticism was gradually creeping
film of doubt. To the conscientious
energy which a sense of duty supplied,
was added the tremendous kinetic
force of a love turned into other chan
nels. And in the wild nights while
the other men slept, Thorpe's half
crazed brain was revolving over and
over again the words of the sentence
he had heard from Hilda's lips: There
can be nothing better than love-
His actions, his mind, his very soul
vehemently denied the proposition. He
chung as ever to his high Puritanic
idea of mans purpose. But down deep
v
heart a very small voice sometimes
made itself heard when other more
militant voices were still: 1T may be;
it may bel"
The last month of hauling was also
one of snow. Each day a little fell.
BY and by the accumulation amounted
to much. In the woods where the wind
could not get at it, it lay deep and
soft above the tops of bushes. On
4 e 41,. inn
snow piled so high as to form Kind
of rampant When all this water in
suspense should begin to flow, and to
seek its level in the water-courses of
the district. the logs would have plen-
ty to float them, at least.
So late did the cold weather last that,
even with the added blowing to do.
the six camps beat all records.
of all fve amounted to nm
On the banks at Camp one
were nine million feet; the
totals of all five amounted to
,lmyr uieCC t*Sviqh nf
thirty-t three million. About ten million
of this was on French Creek: the re-
mainder on the main bank of the Os-
sawinamakee. Besides this the firm up
river, Sadler & Smith, had put up some
twelve million more. The drive prom
Used to be quite an affair.
About the fifteenth of April atten-
ton became strained. Every day the
mounting sun made heavy attacks on
the snow; every night the temperature
dropped below the freezing point. The
river began to show more air holes,
occasional open place. About the CEN
ter the ice looked worn and soggy.
Someone saw a flock of geese high in
the air. Then came rain.
One morning early, Long Jim Pine
came into the mems camp bearing a
hugh chunk of tallow. This he held
against the hot stove until its surface
had softened. when he began to swab
liberal quantities of grease on his
spiked river shoes. which he fished out
from under his bunk.
shes comm, boys" said he.
He donned a pair of wooden trousers
that had been chopped off at the knee,
thick wooden stockings, and the river
shoes. Then he frightened his broad
leather belt about his heavy shirt.
cooked his little hat over his ear, and
walked over in the corner to select a
peavey from the lot the blacksmith
had Just put ii, shape. A peavey is
like a cant-hcok except that ii is pointed
at the end. Thus ii can be used either
as a hook or a pike. At the same mo-
nent Shearer similarly attired and
equipped. appeared in the doorway.
The opening of the portal admitted a
roar of sound The river was rising.
"Come on, boys, she's on" said he
sharply.
Lively, boys, lively!" shouted
Thorpe She'll be down on us before
we know it,"
Above the crealSing of dead branches
in the wind sounded a steady roar, like
the believing of wild beast lashins
itself to fury. The freshet was abroad
The men heard it and their eyes
frightened with the lust of battle. They
cheered.
At the banks of the river Thorpe
issued his directions. The affair hao
been all prearranged. Immediately
above the first srollways was Dam
Three with it's two wide sluice:
through which a veritable flood could
be loosened at will; then four mile:
farther lay the rollway of .Sadler &
Smith, the up-river firm; and above
them tumbled over a forty-five foo
ledge the beautiful Siscoe Falls; thes'
first rollways of Thorpe II
the broad marsh fat below the dam
contained about 100000; the rest o
the seasons cut was scattered for thir
ty miles along the bed of the river.
49, - NsnFE