Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1915-11-09
oN2tE4T or 101l HEAD AnD cOIAAqNr

and the track terminal huddlea
against the bold uplift, and Daily. in
troduced him to Hastings and Murphy,
the latter Of whom hung out of the
window of his diminutive cab and
peered at the stranger out of laugh.
ing eyes whose forbears had twinkled
On Donegal. blue Bag and EE.rr::nn's rcd
checked daughters with impartial Joy.
i "Ah, Misther Dillingworth," he said
heartily, IAN phat dye t'ink Az the
West Coast now?"
"Sandry. Murphy" caught up Daily
easily, yet with warning note.
"Shure! Sandry tits! Excuse me,
Misther Sandry, but amt tn scenery
foine?"
What I've seen, yes. Murphy" an.
swered Sandry after slight pause.
Az he turned after Daily the Irishman
stuck his tongue in the corner Of his
lips and drummed minute on the
sill. the broad smile lessening on his
reckless face.
IAN. phat dye know about thot?"
he asked retrospectively Of the tog.
Out Of the near gloom, which was
Tightening . bit with dawn, the log
trail rose, an aggressive snakelike
trough climbing uncompromisingly at
an angle of So degrees. its center a
straight pine log sunk to it's surface,
which was polished like ivory, its
slightly curving sides the same. How
many tapering trunks had gone into
its two miles would be hard to say, for
in some places they had sunk and
been covered-in the dip, say, over the
ridge where the real mountain began,
at the turn where 1t wound around the
Shoulder.
Before ten minutes Sandry was
breathing heavily. though he said
nothing and kept close at Daily's
heels. The logger strobe forward and
upward with an easy, climbing lift
that rippled every muscle in his loose
body, while the man from the cities
strained and heaved in painful labor,
slipping on the wet earth, houndering
in the rotten bark and brush that
lined the way. They climbed beside
the trail. not In It, Ahead of them the
gang of men had long since disap-
peared from sight and hearing.
The forenoon that followed was the
opening page in new chapter Of his
life. and Sandry bent all his faculties
to . grasp Of outlines.
He stood silently watching the work
90 forward. They had reached the
cutting. Here, in wide dip high
above the world, it seemed to the
fastener, was huge circle Of activ.
ity. Close beside the built trail sec
ond donkey engine fused and
screamed, reaching out uncannily on
all sides for the great logs, to haul
them In with screech Of spool and
strain Of cable and turn them over to
the mysterious steel rope that came.
constantly crawling back on its trav.
cling line. This was called the yard.
ing engine'-the one at the foot Of
the trail beside the rollway and the
track being known as the reader
The monotonous song Of the cross,
cut saws had begun where the buck.
ers were converting several hundred
and.ffty-foot trunks into handling
sections.
A little below, two foot-wide planks
some five or six feet long had been SET
into . giant yellow pine about eight
feet from the ground. one on either
side, and on these two men were stand.
ing, their flannel shirts open at the
throat, their sleeves rolled up from
arms Of steel and leather, their heads
bare. Sandry watched the bending Of
their backs, every muscle outlined
under the clinging shirts. the play OF
their knees. the whole easy ripping
Of their entire bodies with the regular
give and take Of the long saw. The
boards, known ~ springboards, rose
and dipped with the even motion.
These men were fallers. and pres
emily they would lay the towering
mon,rch Of the great woods to the
fraction Of an inch in given place.
ready for the buckers, the hooktendeI
and the cable.
In the meantime the logs already
down were swiftly stripped Of their
limbs, cut into thirty and forty foot
lengths. rolled into the trail with
peavey and cant hook, and sent up and
over the ridge to the accompaniment
Of shrill toots from the whistle-bob's
restless cord. the straining Of rigging
and the squeak Of fiber on polished
fber.
The built trail ended here in the
shallow hollow between the first
ridge and the great mountain beyond,
though up the face Of the latter 1t was
prolonged by . cleared path sharply
defined among the dense Irowth Of
tho timber.
He was impressed BY the magnitude
Of the country. On every hand the
lifting hills were clothed in trees. close
packed and Of such girth and height
- to seem almost groteequely impos.
sible. Humanity tiwas dwarfed to in.
signincancs. Ike an ant crawling ron
cathedral column.
sandry looked around Up to this
distance the woods were dotted With
cuttings where the great stumps
glowed white amid the vivid green
ana the debris Of slashings and trim,
utngs which combined With the fern
ID hazel brush and other under.
growth 20 make Z perfect tanglo. But
beyond. along the nsvcut trail. was
stature. dense and untouched, waiting
Tor the hand Of pygmy man 70 come
and take her lavish treasures.
BY nine o'clock the sun was shining
shove the peaks and the fog had van
lshed from the valleys, and although
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