The San Francisco call., 1904-12-04

Copyright By S. 8. Mcclure CO.
7 FIRST met him one Fourth Of July
Afternoon n the middle eighties. The
SswdUst streets and high board side
walks ot the lumber town were filed
70 the brim with people. The perma-
nent population OF the town, dressed in
the stinest Of its Sunday best, escorted
gfngharn wives or sweethearts; q dozen
outsiders ike myself tried not to be too
conspicuous in city smartness: but
the great multitude was composed Of
the men Of the woods.
sat, chair tilted. by the hotel,
watching them pass. Their heavy
woolen shirts crossed by the broad
suspen6ers. the red OF their sashes or
leather shine OF their belts. their short
kersey trousers Staged" of 10 leave
q gap between the knee and the
heavily spiked cork boots"-au these
were distinctive enough OF their class,
but most interesting to me were the
eyes that peered from beneath their lit
tie round hats tilted rakshly askeu. In
my half-consciOus scrutiny I probably
stared harder than I knew, for all at
once q pair OF blue laughing eyes
suddenly met mine full, and an ironi-
cal voice drawled:
Say, bub. you look as interested as
a man killing snakes Am your long
lost friend7"
I guess you are" replied, 'if you
can tell me what all this outfits head
ed for"
He thrust back his hat and ran his
hand through a mop OF closely cropped
light curls-
"Birling match" he explained briefly.
Come on"
Joined him. and together we fol-
lowed the crowd 10 the river, where
We roasted like cormorants on adjacent
piles overlooking q patch OF clear water
among the filed booms-
Drives just over" my new friend
informed ne. Rear come down last
night Fourier July celebration. This
little town win scratch fer tn tall tim
be- along about midnight when the
boys 90 IN 10 take her apart"
A half-dozen men with peavies rolled
white pine log Of about a foot and q
half diameter into the clear water,
where IL lay rocking back and forth
three or four feet from the boom piles.
Suddenly a man ran the length Of the
boom. leaped easily into the air and
landed with both feet square on one
end Of the floating log. That end dis
appeared in an ankle deep swirl Of
white foam, the other rose suddenly.
and the whole timber projected forward
by the shock. drove heaclong to the
middle OF the pond And the man, his
arms folded, his knees just bent in the
graceful, nervous attitude Of the circus
rider. stood upright like a statue Of
bronzs-
A roar approved this feat
That's Dicly Darrell" said my In
formant, Roaring Dick Watch him"
The man on the log was small, with
clean. beautiful launches and shoul-
ders, but with hanging baboon arms.
Perhaps his most striking feature was
q mop OF reddish-brown hair that over
shadowed little triangular white face,
accented by two reddish-brown Quadri-
laterals that served as eyebrows. and
q pair OF inscrutable chipmunk eyes.
For moment he poised erect In the
great calm g the public performer.
Then slowly he began TO revolve tbe
log under his feet. The lofty gaze. the
folded arms, the straight supple waist
budged not by a hairs breadth: onlv
the feet stepped forward, at nrst de-
liberately. then faster and faster until
the rolling log threw a blur OF spray q
foot into the air. Then suddenly SLAM
slap. the heavy calks stamped a re-
versaL The log came instantaneous,
10 rest. quivering exactly like some an.
irlsl that had been spurred through its
PAGES.
Magnificent" cried.
That's nothing!" my companion
repreSsed me, anybody can birI a log
Watch this"
Roaring Dick for the first time IN
folded his arms. With some appear
ance OF caution he balanced his nm
stable footing into absolute immobil-
ity. Then he turned somersault.
This was the real thing. Ny friend
uttered a wild yell OF applause which