Canyon City news. (Canyon City, Tex.) 1903-1908, 1904-12-16

'si''hy iit ibtii uD tlIC IlNcI lnuSl IlOt
know what I'm after"
"Ihcy get 'um pinc.' interjectcd the
Indian like n flash.
EXACTLY" replied Thorpe, surprised
afrcsh at the others perspicacity.
Good" exclaimed Injun Charley and
fell silent
With this, the longest conversation
the two had attempted in their peculiar
acquaintance. Thorpe was forced to be
content
Three days later he was intensely
thankful the conversation had taken
place.
After the noon meal he lay on his
blanket under the hemlock shelter
Charley busy over the making of Il
birch bark canoe.
so idly intent was Thorpe on this
piece of construction that he did not
notice the approach of two men from
the down stream side. They We're
short, alert men, plodding along with
the knec-bcnt persistency Of the wood
walker, dressed in broad hats, flannel
shirts, coarse trousers tucked in high
laced "cruiscrs' and carrying each n
bulging meal sack looped by cord
across the shoulders and chest Both
were armed with long slender scalers'
rules. The first intimation Thorpe re-
ccivcd of the presence of these two men
was the sound of their voices.
Hello, Charley" said one of them.
"What you doing here? Amt seen you
since the Sturgeon district"
MAX 'um CANOE" replied Charley
rather obviously.
$50 see. But what do yOu expect to
get In this God forsaken country"
Beaver, muskrat. mink. otter"
Trapping, eh?" the man gazed keen
ly at Thorpcs rccumbent figure who's
the other fellow"
Thorpe held his breath, then exhalcd
ii in long sigh of relief.
Him white man." Injun Charley
was replying. Him hunt too. He
max 'un buckSkin."
The land locker arose laZily and
snuntcrch toward the group.
''Howdy?" he drawled. Got any
smOkin'r"
How are you?" replied one of the
scalrrs. cying him sharply and tender.
ing his pouch. Thorpe filed his pipe
deliberately and returned it with
heavy liddcd glance of thanks. TO all
Appearances he was one of the lazy.
shiftess hunters of the backwOOds.
what sort Of chances is they at your
camp for little flour? Me and Char.
ley's about out, I'll bring you meat, or
I'll make you boys moccasins. got
some good buckskin."
1t was the usual proposition.
"Pretty good. | guess. Come up and
see" advised the scaler. THE crews
right behind u.s."
"Tll send Charley" drawled Thorpe.
"I'm busy now maxim traps" He
waved his pipe, calling attention to the
pine and rawhide deadfalls.
They chatted a few moments Then
two wagons creaked lurching by. fol-
lowed by fifteen or twenty men. The
last of these evidently the foreman.
was Joined by the two scalers.
Injun Charley was setting about the
splitting of cedar log.
"lon see" he remarked. 81 big
fricn."
In the days that followed Thorpe
cruised about the great woods 1t was
slow business. but fascinating. He
knew that when he should embark on
his attempt to enlist considerable cap
ital in an "unsight. unseen invest
ment he would have to be well sup
piled with statistics.
First Of all he walked over the coun-
try at large to find where the best tim
ing, though often on an elevation he
succeeded In climbing tall tree
whence he caught brdseye views OF
the country ut large. He always car
ricd his gun with him and was pre-
pared at moments notice to seem en-
gagged in hunting.
Next he ascertained the geographical
location of the different clumpS and
forests, entering the sections, the quar-.
ter sections, even the separate forties.
In his notebook. taking in only the de
scriptions" containing the best pine.
Finally he wrote accurate notes con.
cerning the topography of each and
every pine district-the lay Of the land,
the hills. ravines. swamps and valleys.
the distance from the river. the char
acter Of the soil. In short, he accumu-
lated all the information he could by
which the cost Of logging might be es-
timated.
For this he had really too little ex-
perience. He knew 1t. but determined
to do his best. The weak point of his
whole scheme lay in that 1t was going
Ia he impossible for him Ia allow ilir