Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1904-06-10

the down stream side. They were
short, alert men, plodding along with
the knee-bent persistency Of the wood
shirts, coarse trousers tucked in high
laced CRUISERS" and carrying each a
bullying meal sack Topped by cord
across the shoulders and chest. Both
were armed with long slender scalers
rules. The first intimation Thorpe re-
ceived 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
~ at Thorpe's recumbent figure. "Who's
the other fellow?'
Thorpe held his breath, then exhaled
it in a long sigh Of relief.
Him white man." Injun Charley
was ACplSIAS. AAAh NUM- wv. AZ
max 'um buckskin."
! The land locker arose lazily and
sauntered toward the group.
"Howdyw he drawled Got any
smokin'?'
How are youy" replied one of the
ing his pouch. Thorpe filled his pipe
deliberately and returned 1t with a
| heavy lidded glance Of thanks. To all
appearances he was one of the lazy,
shiftless hunters Of the backwoods.
Seized with an inspiration, he said:
What sort of chances is they at your
camp for little -four? 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. 1.-THE crews
right behind u.s.
"In send Charley" drawled Thorpe
I'm busy now maxim traps" He
waved his pipe, calling attention to the
| pine and rawhide deadfalls.
! They chatted 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.
You see" he remarked. Il big
frien'"
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
Der lay. This was matter of tramp
ing, though often on an elevation he
succeeded In climbing tall tree
whence he caught birdseye views of
the country ut large. He always car
ried his gun with him and was pre-
pared at moments notice to seem en-
gagged In bunting.
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-
corning 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-
hated 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 it, but determined
to do his best. The weak point of his
whole scheme lay in that it was going
to be impossible for him to allow the
prospective purchaser chance to ex-
ANIME the pine. That difficulty Thorpe
hoped to overcome by inspiring per
sonal confidence in himself. If he
failed to do SO he might return with
land locker whom the investor trusted,
and the two could re-enact the comedy
of this summer. Thorpe hoped, how
ever, to avoid the necessity. be set
about rough estimate of the timber.
One evening just at sunset Thorpe
was hcl-'-e- ahc tndian shape his craft.