Mower County transcript., 1904-03-30
STEWART
EDWARD
WHITE
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max 'um buckskin."
| - The land locker arose laZily and
sauntered toward the group.
"Howdy?' he drawled. Got any
Ssmokin'Y'
"How are you?" replied one of the
scalers, eying him sharply and tender
,,ing his pouch. Thorpe filed his pipe
deliberately and returned it with q
heavy lidded glance of thanks. 10 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
| leys about out. III bring you meat. or
I'll make you boys noccasins. l got
some good buckskin."
i It was the usual proposition.
"Pretty good. guess. Come up and
see" advised the scalcr. The crews s
right behind u.s."
| "Pll send Charley" drawled Thorpe
"Im 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.
"You see" he remarked. Il big
| frien."
III 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
ber lay. This was matter of tramp
ing, though often on an elevation he
! succeeded in climbing a tall tree
whence he caught birdseye views of
the country at large. He always car
ried his gun with him and was pre-
pared at a 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 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 a 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 a
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. He set
about a rough estimate Of the timber.
One evening just at sunset Thorpe
was helping the Indian shape his craft.
| The two men bent there at their task,
the dull glow OF evening falling upon
them. Behind them the knoll stood
out in picturesque relief against the
| darker pines. The river rushed by
with never ending roar and turmoil.
Through its shouting one perceived lis
| through q mist, the still lofty peace Of
| evening.
A young fellow. hardly more than Il
boy, exclaimed with keen delight of the
! picturesque as his canoe shot around
the bend into sight Of il.
| The canoe was large aud powerful.
but we'll filed An Indian klicit in
the stern. AnlidshipS WAS well laden
with duttie Of all descriptions. The
young fellow sat in the bow. lie was
a bright faced, eager eyed, curly haired
young fellow, all enthusiasm and fire.
l
rather slender, and his movements
were quick, but nervous. When he
stepped carefully out on the fat rock
to which his guide brought the canoe
| with a swirl OF the paddle one initiat-
ed would have seen that his Clothes
while Strnn" and servicr;.h!r. had been
/ bought from Il sporting catalogue.
'"This is a good place. lie said to the
guide. well camp here" Then he
turned up the steep bank without look
ing back.
"Hellow he called in a cheerful, un-
embarrassed fashion to Thorpe and
Charley. "How are you? Care if
camp here? What you making? BY
Jove! l never saw a canoe made be-
fore. I'm going to watch you. Keep
| right at it,
He sat on one of the outcropping
powders and took off his hat
"Say, you've got a great place here!
| You here all summer? Hello! You've
got a deer hanging up. Are there
many Of 'em around here? I'd like to
! kill q door fret rot to. r hox