The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1904-08-04

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hours OF their night, every muscle
tense, staring at the sky. His mind
saw definitely every detail Of the sit
uation as he had viewed it. In advance
| his imagination stopped and sweated
| to the work which his body was to ac-
complish the next morning. Thus he
did everything twice. Then at last the
tension would relax. He would fall
into uneasy sleep. But twice that did
not follow. Through the dissolving
iron mist of his striving a sharp
thought cleaved like an arrow 1t was
that, after all, he did not care. Sub
consciousness, the other influence, was
growing like a weed. Perhaps there
| were greater things than to succeed,
greater things than success. And then
the keen, poignant memory of the
dream girl stole into the young mans
mind and in agony was Immediately
thrust forth. He would not think Of
her. He had given her up. He refus-
ed to believe that he had been wrong
would rise and steal to the edge of the
duly roaring stream. There, his eyes
blinded and his throat choked with a
longing more manly than tears, he
would reach out and smooth the round
rough coats Of the great logs.
1 "We'll do it," he whispered to them
and to himself. "We'll do it. We can't
be wrong
CHAPTER Xxx.
EaTlALLACE CARPENTERS search
M expedition had proved a fail
Xvi ure' as Thorpe had foreseen'
~ but at the end of .the week,
when the water began to recede, they
came upon a mass of flesh and bones.
The man was unacceptable. The re-
mains were wrapped in canvas and
sent for interment to the cemetery at
Marquette. Three of the others were
never found. The last did not come to
light until after the drive had quite fin
ished.
Down at the booms the jam crew
received the drive as fast as it came
down. From one crib to another across
the broad extent Of the rivers mouth
y
efectually to close the exit to Lake
Superior. Against these the logs car
omed softly in the slackened current
and stopped. The cribs were very
heavy, with slanting instead Of square
tops, in order that the pressure might
be downward instead of sidewise. In
a short time the surface Of the lagoon
! 1,x7o of 1orr
running in strange patterns like wind
rows of fallen grain. The drive was
all but over.
Up till now the weather had been
clear, but oppressively hot for this
time of year. The heat had come sud
denly and maintained itself we'll The
men had worked for the most part in
undershirts. They were as much in
the water as out of it, for the icy bath
had become almost grateful. Hamil-
ton, the Journalist, who had attached
himself definitely to the drive, distrib-
uted punches of papers, in which the
men read that the unreasonable condi-
tons prevailed all over the country
At length, however, it gave signs of
breaking. The sky, which had been of
steel blue, harbored great piled thun-
der heads. Toward evening the thun-
der heads shifted and finally dissipat-
ed, to be sure, but the portent was
there
Hamilton's papers began to tell of
washouts and cloudbursts in the south
and west. The men wished they had
some of that water here.
So finally the drive approached it's
end and all concerned began in antici-
patton to taste the WEAKNESS that
awaited them. The few remaining
tasks still confronting them all at once
seemed more formidable than what
they had accomplished. The work for
the first time became logged, distaste-
full. Even Thorpe was infected. He,
too, wanted more than anything else
to drop On the bed in Mrs. Hathaway's
boarding house. There remained but
a few things to do. A mile of sacking
would carry the drive beyond the in
f1uence of freshet water After that
there would be no hurry.
He looked round at the hard, fatigue
worn faces of the men about him, and
he suddenly felt great rush of affec-
ton for these comrades who had so IN
reservedly spent themselves for his af-
fair. Their features showed exhaus-
ton, it is true, but their eyes cleaned
still with the steady, half humorous
purpose Of the pioneer When they
caught his glance they grinned good
hum oredly.
All at once Thorpe turned and start
ed for the bank.
"That IL do, boys" he said quietly to
the nearest group. "She's down."
1t was noon. The sackers looked up
in surprise. Behind them, to their very
feet rushed the soft smooth slope of
HemlOck rapids. Below them flowed q