The Emmett index. [volume] (Emmett, Idaho) 1893-1925, 1915-12-09
CHAPTER XIV.

but the critical point was at hand and
he scarce took time to eat or sleep
| from the great work of the contract.
The mammoth raft was ready, the
largest, according to Daily, that the
camp had ever sent out in all it's life,
| and a special boat from the Portland
Mills company would lay off Yaquina
/ to receive it on the sixteenth
| On the night of the second, Daily
| caught glimmer of white on the lin
tel. 1t was paper, stuck in with a
| thumb-tack
Watch your raft" it said, for pow
| der"
That was all, and it was unsigned
| Daily told Sandry of the incident and
showed the warning
So for the remaining nights the
great raft was lighted from end to
end and four Of the Indians patrolled
1t In shifts, armed with rifles and un
der orders to shoot at the first sign OF
trouble.
The work went forward rapidly The
Siwashes, born and raised in the tim
Der country, knew all the work of the
camp and they needed no driving
They were a godsend to Sandry in
the pressing days and he came to look
upon them with wide tolerance
In serving you we serve S1etz,'''
he quoted to himself, for she's your
woman And an odd sensation
prickled his skin, tingled at the roots
of his hair. Some way, somehow,
these were Siletz' people-these silent,
shiftless. well-taught creatures, who
made no use Of their talents, yet who
did hard, unnecessary labor at the call
Of the blood
f, That night, with the raft and even
the two engines under guard and all
the length of track patrolled, he came
in tired, worn to thin edge with
sleeplessness, tense and taut as sing
ing wire, to meet Miss Ordway.
She slipped her hand into his arm
with a little, familiar gesture and |
turned him about.
Come along and relax" she said |
you're almost hysterical."
i believe / am" said Sandry wea-
AJy ShOd6h 40 Nc olCppCu Oul luiO Tic
night, soft already with the breath of
spring as is the way with the coast
country, where the seasons shoulder
each other suddenly for place, he
looked uneasily for Siietz.
Lets go up to the old rollway. It's
deserted and I have things to tell
you-oh, many things!"
iro |
laugh that was so soft and rich, and it
soothed the mans strained nerves like
a narcotic.
Miss Ordway sat down, or rather
climbed up, on log that lay beside
the rollway and drew her gray broad
cloth aside.
Sandry settled himself beside her
and took off his hat The soft, changed
breath of the night air was grateful
to him.
"Whe-ew! I'll be thankful when this
strain is over, that raft headed out to
sea and my contract fulfilled! l never
Knew business was so strenuous"
Miss Ordway looked at him through
he dusk with admiring eyes.
But look how you're succeeding!
Why, it's great!"
"Yes-but for how much of it can
thank myself? Hampden has me in
bad hole about my great East Belt
he best timber in the region and the
ase, practically, of the Dillingworths
uture- and but for these Indians l
you'd be now-well, 1 hate to think
7here I'd have been" {
"S'h!" said Miss Ordway; mot so {
asst about that bad hole. Instead, Mr.
Walter Sandry, we've got your friend
lampden in the deepest hole he was g
yer in in all his life. In fact, when I
Te say the word, he'll turn over the /
asst Belt with both hands,"
Sandry held out hand and Miss T
rdway took it, not after her usual n
lanner of hail-fellow, but with a v
emile, proprietary motion. She tapped b
lie breast of her princess gown. L
Il have right here copies OF filings
i sixteen claims, all duly put through h
Y cash entry by as many different Il
know that Hampden owns
| these numbers, that he furnished b
e money for building the cabins. for
ing fees, for advertising, for final 81
'oots at the land office and for the n
price of the land In re- al
IN for all this these bogus entry [
drifting gentry OF the
liked boots and the turkey in mos CT
ses--received four hundred dollars w
en- for the breaking OF their faith Ell
tn the government. No wonder
ampden is richi' re
For a long moment Sandry sat in tn
silence so deep that ne ceased to tn
eathe. He was grasping the magni- as
de OF the mans daring the gigantic be
TX ne ran with his safety IN the I'M of
rtain hands OF sixteen men. tn
And also ne was beginning to COM
ehend. wonderingly, the daring OF de
Is woman, her tinesse her clever
ss and ner success. sa
Wonderful" he said at last; 'ft Is wi
st belief! And how, for the love of la
aven, did you ever wind w that as
nmissioner to put his own head i'll
, moose by giving you those proofs?"
Hiss Ordway looked away down the tn
t darkening slough, and there was Sill
It In her narrowed, smiling eyes the