The Huttig news., 1916-03-18


 Come along. l want to climb that east ridge
 In hurrying silence the three men climbed the mountain, standing at tast on narrow crest between two rol- licking areas of flame that leaped and . afe and roared in a hundred places
 The stranger questioned pointedly- how long they had been burning how many fires there were at the start, how 1t had all begun, and Sandry no- tieed his thoroughness.
 Daily gave every detail freely
 Its ben set. he said bitterly, .an fer tn life of me l don't know why We'd a-had it all under by now but fer this one up here-an' tn start an'-but. oh Lord, whats tn use? They ben springin' us faster'n we'd get 'em out
 Got any enemies2"
 @Only the Yella Pines. an they're rich as us-off to tn south there
 The ranger studied the hills. the lie of the land. the trend Of the valleys, and held up his hat to get the force and direction of the wind
 North said Daily, hen whippin up from tn backwater like hell ali day That's what's done tn business.
 Wrong" said the ranger. north by-northeast. Worse, for it's going to change Then it'll go back toward that heavier timber there.
 He nodded toward the East Belt and Daily groaned,
 Saudry only shut h1s lips.
 He began to see why his foreman, himself a born Woodsnan and familiar with the region, had so heartily turned over h1s command 10 this stranger, popped up from nowhere.
 He recognized trained abiHty. a man of business handling his business.
 They hastily returned to the valley and the ranger gathered twenty men, putting them under one of his aides.
 "Go up over that ridge" he direct ed briefly, and cut fortysfoot fall straight across the dip behind the fire Go on and cut it up over the big ridge Don't stop to fight"
 As the men hurried off with cross cuts and axes, he plunged into the smoke and fire. shouting terse com mands taking men from what seemed imperative tasks to put them at work in places removed from the fire-dig- ging trenches, cutting great pine here q towering spruce or fir there
 Good man, panted Sandry to his foreman as they passed with axes and dripping sacks
 Pest thing in the timber. They know th woods an tn fires an tn air currents. Wisht we had hun drea of 'em. They'd save tn country 'ts goin to hell with these fires.
 The one-horse railroad redeemed it. self that night. for il sent special train from the Summit with all the men from the stations along the iso- ated mountain line That was no great load. for the few tiny towns lost in the wilderness had little to boast of in population, yet what they sent was good, live stuff-timbermen and fire-fghters by instinct.
 Dawn came over the mountains in
 
 copper shining dimly through can opy of dun-white smoke The wind which had dropped bit in the latter part of the night. came up again and gave new impetus to the flames. The roar was inCessant. Here a giant pine, rich with resin, caught fire and eairIy tore into the sky ill it's fury Of burning-there huge fir eaten through at the base hy pack of tin der fell with a majesty of sound that was awesome. And everywhere the men, like ants attacking some mighty task, toiled without sleep.
 Daily had been un for forty-eight hours, yet he went as strongly as at the beginning, while Sandry. still far from hale. was compelled to drop for an hours sleep. In fact. Ma did the compelling, going into the smoke and ashes after him. bringing him out bodily with a firm hand on his shoul- der.
 You're spelling me" he protested through soot-grimed lips, and l can't afford to sleep
 "CSn't afford to go down fer good" said the general sternly, mo steam, no power. Food an sleep-fnel an water. Do you tend to your oilers.
 And the owner, with a wry smile, sank on a pile of gunnysacks beside the improvised rollway of the upper cutting.
 When he awoke it was to fnd him self under a light blanket of fancifm weave which belonged to Siletz. The shy, silent girl had been about him in his sleep.
 When he hurried to the work he saw here and there groups of Indians The reservation had arrived in force But things were growing worse with every hour.
 The sound of the flames was as the surf on a thousand miles of shore. The pail of smoke shut out the light of heaven, lending a lonesome. fear giving darkness to the world the little world of the Dillingworth valley Long streamers of the gray moss that hung from the branches high above famed out in fantastic shapes and