Courier Democrat., 1904-06-02


Thorpe was requested elaborately to
"shake hands, with the owners of six
names. Then he had Il chance to init
mate quietly to Shearer that he wanted
word With him alone. The river man
rose silently and led the way up the
straight. uncarpeted stairs. along Il mar
row, uncarpeted hall, to Il square. un
carpeted bedroom. The walls and cell
ings of this apartment were of un-
painted planed pine 1t contained
cheap bureau. one chair and bed and
washstand 10 match the bureau. Shear
er lit the lamp and sat on the bed.
"What is it," he asked.
II have little pine up in the north
ern peninsula within walking distance
Of Marquette" said Thorpe, land
want to get q crew of about twenty
men. 1t occurred to me that you might
be willing to help me-"
The river man frowned steadily at his
interlocutor from under his bushy
brows.
"How much pine you got?" he asked
finally.
"About 3oo,ooo,ooo," replied Thorpe
quietly.
The old mans blue eyes fixed them
selves With unwavering steadiness on
Thorpe's face.
you're jobbing some Of it, eh?" he
submitted finally as the only probable
conclusion. "Do you think you know
enough about it? Who does it belong
to:''
at belongs to man named Carpen.
ter and myself
The river man pondered this slowly
for an appreciable interval and then
shot out another question:
How'd you get it,"
Thorpe told him simply, emitting
nothing except the name Of the firm
up river. When he had finished Shear
er evinced no astonishment nor ap-
proval.
"You done WE'LL" he commented final
". Then, after another interval:
"Have you found out who was the
men stealin' the pine?"
"Yes," replied Thorpe quietly, cit was
Morrison & DAILY"
The old man fickered not an eye
lid. He slowly filed his pipe and lit it.
"1ll get you crew of men," said
he. "if you'll take me as foreman"
"But it's q little job at first" protest
ed Thorpe. 81 only want a camp of
twenty. 1t wouldn't be worth your
while''
That's my lookout. I'll take the
job replied the logger grimly. "You
got 300,O0O,0OO there amt you? And
you're goin' to cut it? 1t amt such
small job"
Thorpe could hardly believe his good
fortune in having gained so important
recruit. With practical man as
foreman, his mind would be relieved
Of a great deal Of worry over unfamil-
lar details. He saw Mt once that he
would himself be able to perform all
the duties Of scaler, keep in touch with
the needs of the camp and supervise
the campaign. Nevertheless he answer.
ed the older mans glance with one as
keen and said:
'Look here, shearer if you take this
job we may as we'll understand each
other at the start. This is going to be
my camp, and I'm going to be boss.
don't know much about logging, and I
shall want you to take charge of all
that, but I shall want to know just
why you do each thing, and if my judg-
ment advises otherwise, my judgment
goes. If want to discharge man, he
walks without any question. know
about what shall expect of each man,
and intend to get it out of him. And
in questions of policy mihe is the say
so every trip. Now, know you're q
good man-one Of the best there is
and l presume shall find your judg.
ment the best, but don't want any
mistakes to start with. If you want
to be my foreman on those terms just
say so, and III be tickled to death to
have you"
For the first time the numbering mans
face lost, during single instant, it's
mask of immobility. His steel blue
eyes flashed; his mouth twitched with
some strong emotion. For the first
time, too, he spoke without contempla-
tive pause Of preparation.
'That's the way to talk!'' he cried.
"Go with you? Well, should rise to
remark! You're the boss, and always
said it. I'll get you gang of bully
boys that will roll logs till there's skat
ing in Tophet."
Thorpe left, after making an ap-
pointment at his own hotel for the fol-
lowing day, more than pleased with
his luck. None the less, he anticipated
his next step with shaky confidence.
He would now be called upon to buy
four or five teams of horses and enough
feed to last them the entire winter, and
be would have to arrange for pro-
visions in abundance and variety for
bis men; he would have to figure on
blankets, harness, cook camp utensils,
stoves, blacksmith's tools, iron, axes,
chains, cant hooks, van goods, pals,
lamp4 oil. matches, all sorts Of hard
MaIs-in short, Ill the thousand and
- things, from needles to court plas-
-. Of which self sufncing commu-