Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1904-01-07

by morning the mere surface Of the
sprinkled water had frozen. Railway
looked In despair at the sky. Dimiy
through the gray he caught the tint of
blue.
The sun came out. Euthatches and
woodpeckers ran gayiy ZIP the warm.
ing trunks of the trees; blue jays dun.
cd and perked and screamed In the
hardwood tops: a covey Of grouse ven.
tured from the swamp and strutted
vainly, q pause Of contemplation be.
tween each step. Railway, walking out
on the tramped road Of the marsh,
cracked the artificial skin and thrust
his foot through into icy water. That
night the sprinklers stayed in.
The devil seemed in ii. Men were
lying idle; teams were doing the same.
Nothing went on but the days Of the
year, and four Of them had already
licked OF the calendar. The deep snow
Of the unusually cold autumn had now
disappeared from the tops Of the
stumps. 1t even stopped freezing dur.
ing the night. At times Dyer's little
thermometer marked 40 high as 40 de-
grees.
II often heard this was sort "
summer resort" observed Tom Broad.
head, "but hanged IL I knew it was a
summer resort all the year round!'
by and by 1t got TO be case Of look
ing on the bright side Of the affair
from pure reaction.
II don't know said Railway: "it
won't be so bad. after all. A couple Of
days of zero weather, with all this wa
ter lying around, would fix things up
in pretty good shape. II she only
freezes tight we'll have q good solid
bottom to build on"
The inscrutable goddess OF the will
derness smiled and calmly. relentlessly,
moved her next pawn.
1t was all so unutterably simple and
yet 80 effective. 1t showed.
All night and all day the great fakes
zigzaeged softly down through the air.
Railway plowed away two feet Of 1t.
The surface was promptly covered by
a second storm. Railway dOggedly
plowed 1t 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 ut 3 O'Clock. The men
worked by the light of torches, which
were often merely catchup jugs with
wicking in the necks. Nothing could
be more picturesque than a teamster
conducting one of his great pyramid
ical loads over the little inequalities Of
the road. in the ticklish places stand.
ing atop with the bent knee of the Ro.
man chariOteer. spying and forestall-
ing the chances Of the way with fxed
eye and an intense concentration that
relaxed not one inch in the miles Of
the haul. Thorpe had become a full
hedged cant hook man.
He liked the work. There is about II
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 overrnn. He
stops the roll with sudden sure grasp
applied at Just the right moment to he
effective. sometimes he allows himself
to be carried UP bodily. clinging to the
cant hook like an acrobat to a bar, un-
Ill the log has rolled once, when, his
weapon loosened, he drops lightly. cas-.
| lily to the ground And it Is exciting 10
pile the logs OH the sleigh. first layer
of Ave, say; then one of four smaller. OF
hut 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 little men
in blue flannel shirts.
Chains bind the loads. And il ever
during the loading or afterward when
the sleigh is in D,oton the weight of
the logs causes the pyramid TO break
down and squash out. then woe to the
driver or whoever happens TO he 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 tho boom. =
In that Enclosure they remain until
sawed in the mill
Thorpe, In common with the other
men. had thought Railways vacation
at Christmas time mistake He could
not but admire the feverlsh nnimatio
that now characterized the jobber. Ev,
cry mischance was as quickly repaired
rs aroused eXpedient could do tho
work
Esprit de corps awoke. The men
sprang to their tasks with alacrity
| gave more than an hours exertion tt
each OF the twenty-four. took II pride
In repulsing assaults of the great on
envy whom they personiied under thu
generic "She."
1 One morning in February Thorpe
was helping load big butt log. H.
was one OF the two men who stand q
either end Of the skids to help the as
cending log keep straight and true tc
Its bed on the pile. His assistants
end caught on silver, ground for {
second and slipped back. Then thu