The Seattle star. [volume] (Seattle, Wash.) 1899-1947, 1919-07-11
BIG TIMBER
BY BERTRAND w. SINCLAIR


by to Roaring lake. goodbye to
kitchen smells and flies and sixteen
hours "A day over hot stove.
She wondered why such loathing
OF the work afflicted her: II all who
earned their bread in the sweat OF
their brow were ridden with that feel.
ling--woodmen. cooks, chauffcurs.
the slaves of personal service and the
great industrial mills alike? Her
heart went out to them II they were.
But she was quite sure that work
could be otherwise than repellant,
enslaving. She recalled that cooks
and maids had worked In her fathers
house with no sign OF the revolt that
now assailed her But II seemed 20
her that their tasks had been light
compared with the job of cooking in
Charlie Benton's camp.
Curtousl enough. while she
changed her clothes, her thoughts "A
tumble of present things she dislilxed
and the unknown that she would
have To face alone i'm Vancouver, she
o u n d her mind turning ON Jack
Fyfe. During his three weeks stay.
they had progressed less in the direc-
ton OF acquaintance than she and
Paul Abbey had done in two meetings.
fyfe talked 10 her now and h
briefly. but he looked at her more
than he talked. Where his searching
gaze disturbed, his speech soothed. II
was so coolly impersonai. That, she
deemed. was merely another OF his
odd contradictions. He was contra
dictory. Stella classified Jack F'yfe as
n creature of unrcstrained passions.
She recognized. or thought she recog-
nizcd. certain dominant. primitive
characteristics. and they did not ex.
cite her admiration. Men admired
him~-those who were not afraid OF
him. IL he had been OF more pol.
ished clay. she could readily hav G
grasped this attitude. But in. h err
eyes he was merely n rude. master
full man. uncommonly gifted W n
physical strength. dominating other
rude, strong men by sheer brute
force. The iron hand should fitly be
concealed beneath the velvet glove.
Yet in spite OF the bold look In his
eyes that always confused and irri-
tated her. f'yfe had never singled her
out for the slightest attention of the
kind any man bestows upon an at.
tractive woman. Stella was no fool.
She knew that she was attractive.
and she knew why. She had been
prepared 10 repulse. and there had
been nothing 10 repulse. Once dur
ing Charles absence he had come
in rowboat. hailed her from the
beach. and gone away without dis.
embarking when she told him Benton
was not back. He was something OF
an enigma. she confessed to herself.
after all. Perhaps that was why he
came so frequently into her mind.
Or perhaps. she told herself, there
was so little on Roaring Lake TO
think about that one could not escape
the personA element. As II any one
ever could As II life were made up
of anything but the impigning of one
personality upon another. That was
something Miss Stella Benton had yet
TO learn. She was still mircd in the
rampant egotism OF untried youth. as
yet the sublime individualist.
That side OF her suffered a distinct
shock later in the evening. When
supper was over. the work done. and
the loggers' celebration was slowly
subsiding in the clubhouse. she told
Charlie with blunt directness W h a
she wanted 20 do. With equally blunt
dircctness he declared that he would
not permit IL. Stella's teeth came to
gether with an angry little click.
I'm of age. Charlier' she said 20
him. 1T isn't for you to say what
you will or viii not permit me TO do.
want that money OF mine that you
used-and what I've earned. GOD
knows I have earned it. can't
stand this work. and don't intend
to. 1t isn't work: it's slavery
But what can you do in town." he
countered. "You haven't the least
idea what you'd be going up against,
Stell. You've never been away from
home. and you've never had the least
training at anything useful. You'd
be on your uppers in no time at all.
chance"
IL have such splendid chance
here" she retorted. ironically. "lf
could get in any position where I'd
be more likely to die of sheer stagna-
ton. to say nothing of dirty |
drudgery. than In this forsaken hole. !
I'd like to know how. | don't think |
it's possible"
"You could be a whole lot worse
q l. 4.
turned. grumpily. 'If you haven't /
got any sense about things. l have. |
know what a rotten hole Vancouver |
or any other seaport town is for a
girl alone. ] won't let you make any
foolish break like that. That's fiat"
From this position she failed to
bulge him. once angered, partly by
her expressed intention and partly
by the outspolSen protest against the
mountain of work imposed on her,
Charlie refused pointblank to give
her either the 500 he had taken out
of her purse or the three months
wages due. Having made her re-
quest. and having met with this-to
her--amazing refusal. Stella sat
dumb. There was too fine a streak
in her TO break out in recrimination.
She was too proud TO cry.
SO that she went TO bed in a fer
ment OF helpless rage. Virtually she
was a prisoner. as much so as If
Charlie had kidnapped her and held
her so by brute force. The economic
restraint was all potent. Without
money she could not even leave the
camp And when she contemplated
h daily treadmill before her, she
shuddered.
At least she could go on strike.