The diamond drill. (Crystal Falls, Iron County, Mich.) 1887-1996, 1904-02-13

country IN general was rolling. Low
parallel ridges OF gentle declivity GID
ed constantly across his way. their
valleys sloping 10 the river. Thorpe
had never seen a grander forest OF
pine than that which clothed them.
AT the ten mile point he came upon
a dam. IL was a crude dam, built OF
logs, whose face consisted OF strong
buttrcsses slanted up stream and whose
sheer was made OF Embarked timbers
laid smoothly side by side at the re-
quired angle. Az present its gate Was
open.
The purpose OF the dam in this new
country did not puzzle him In the
least. but its presence bewildered him.
Such constructions are often thrown
across logging streams at proper In
tervals in oroor that the operator may
be Independent OF the spring freshets.
The device is common enough, but II
is expensive. People do not build
dams except in the certainty OF some
years of logging, and quite extensive
logging az that. If the stream happens
to be navigable the promoter must first
get an Improvement charter from
board Of control appointed by the
state SO Thorpe knew that he had
to deal not with n hand to mouth lum-
Der thief, but with a great company
preparing to log the country on big
scale.
He continued his journey. At noon
he came TO another and similar struc-
ture. Here he left his pack and pushed
ahead In light marching order. About
eight miles above the first dam and
eighteen from the bend OF the river
he ran into "slashing' OF the year
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 be-
came at once of the greatest interest.
He scrambled over and through the
ugly debris which for year or two
after logging operations cumbers the
ground. by rather prolonged search
he found what he sought--the section
corners" OF the tract on which the gov
eminent surveyor had long ago marked
the descriptions" glance at the
map confirmed his suspicious. The
slashlng lay some two miles north OF
the sections designated as belonging to
private parties. II was government
land
Thorpe sat down. lit pipe and did
little thinking.
lie had that very morning passed
through beautiful timber lying much
nearer the mouth OF the river than
either this or the sections farther south.
Why had these men deliberately ascend
cd the stream? Why had they stolen
timber eighteen miles from the bend
when they could equally well have stol-
en- just as good fourteen miles nearer
the terminus OF their drive?
Thorpe suddenly remembered the
two dams aud 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 II. Aft
er another pipe he felt sure.
The unknowns were indeed going In
on large scale They intended even
tually 20 log the whole OF the Ossa-
wlnamakee basin. For this reason they
had made their first purchase, planted
their first foothold, near the headwa-
ters. Some day they would buy all the
standing government pine In the basin.
but In the meantime they would steal
all they could nj sufficient distance
from the lake 10 minimize the danger
OF discovery Every stick cut meant
so much less to purchase later on.
Thorpe knew tnn men occupied In
% precarioue q business would be keen
II on the watch AZ the first hint OF
rivalry they would buy in the timber
they had selected. But the situation
had set his lighting blood to racing.
They undoubtedly wanted the tract
down river. Well, so did hel
lie purposed 10 look il over carefully.
TO ascertain It's exact boundaries and
what sections ii would be necessary to
buy In order TO include IL, and perhaps
even TO estimate IL in a rough way. In
the accomplishment OF this he would
have o. spend the summer and perhaps
part of the fall in that district. He
cOulu ndibiS tNp'St " N9S"pS "VtSO'
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 10 hide I'm the forest, but
sooner or later, lac was sure. one OF the
companys land lockers 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. lie had. as has been said.
To be continued