The Seattle star. [volume] (Seattle, Wash.) 1899-1947, 1919-07-12
BIG TIMBER
BY BERTRAND W. SINCLAIR


Then Benton excused himself and
went TO bed. When Howe and his
wife retired, Stella did likewise. The
long twilight had dwindled 60 n
misty patch Of light sky In the
northwest and she fell asleep more
ut ease than she had been for weeks.
sitting In Jack Fyfe's living room
thru that evening she had begun to
formulate a philosophy 20 tit her en-
forced environment-to live for the
day only. and avoid thought of the
future until there doomed on the ho-
rizon some prospect OF n future worth
thinking about. The present looked
passable enough. she thought, II she
kept her mind strictly on IL alone.
And with that idea to guide her.
she found the days slide by smooth
ly. She got on famously with Mrs.
Howe. finding that woman full OF vir-
tues unsuspected In her type. Char
lie was In his element. His prospects
looked so rosy that they led him Into
egotistic outlines OF what he intended
TO accomplish. To him the future
meant logs In the water. big holdings
Of timber. a growing bank account.
Beyond that-what all his concentrat-
ed effort should lead to save more
logs and more timbcr--he did not
seem to 20. Judged by his talk that
was tho ultimate, economic power
money and more money. More and
more as Stella listened to him. she
became aware that he was following
his fathers footsteps. save that he
aimed at greater heights and that he
worked by different methods. jug
Cling with natural resources where
their father had merely juggied with
prices and tokens OF product. their
end was the same--not to create or
build up. but 10 grasp. TO acquire.
That was the game. To get and to
hold for their own use and benefit
and To look upon men and things.
insofar MS they were OF use. as pawns
in the game.
She wondered sometimes II that
were characteristic Of all men, II
that we're the big motif In the lives
OF such men az Paul Abbey and Jack
Fyfe. for instance: II every thing else.
save the struggle OF getting and keep
ing money. resolved itself into pure
y incidental phases of their exist
ence7 For herself she considered
that wealth. or the getting Of wealth.
was only means to an end.
Just what that end might be she
found n little vague. rather hard TO
define in exact terms. 1t embraced
personal leisure and the good things
OF life as a matter OF course. broad
or existence. a large handed gener-
osity toward the less fortunate. an
intellectual elevation entirely unre-
lated TO gross material things. Life.
she told herself pensiveiy. ought to
mean something more than cass and
good clothes. but what more she was
chary Of putting into concrete form.
II hadn't meant much moro than
that for her. no far. She was only
beginning to recognize the flinty
facts Of existence. She saw now that
for her there lay open only two
paths TO food and clothing: ono in
which. lacking all trimming. she must
earn her bread by daily toll. the other
leading 10 marriage. That. she wcuh
have admitted. was a woman's nat,
ural destiny. but ono didn't pick a
husband or lover as one chose n
gown or a hat One went along liv-
ing. and the thing happened. Chance
ruled there, she believed. Tho moral
ity OF her class prevented her from
prying into this question OF mating
with anything like critical considera.
ton. II was only to be thought about
sentimentally. and II was easy for
her TO so think. Within her sound
and vigorous body all the heritage Of
natural human impulses dubbed
warmly. but she recognized neither
their source nor their ultimate fruits.
Often when Charlie was holding
forth In his accustomed vein. she
wondered what Jack Fyfe thought
about II, what he masked behind his
brief sentences or slow smile. Lat
terly her feeling about him, that In
voluntary bracing and stiffcning Of
herself against his personality, left
her. Fyfe seemed to be more or less
sslf.conscious OF her presence as
guest in his house. His manner to-
ward her remained always casual. as
II she were a man, and there was
no question Of sex attraction OF mas
culine reaction to II between them.
She liked him better for that: and
she did admire his wonderful
strength, the tremendous power In.
vested in his magnificent body. just
as she would have admired a tiger,
without caring to fondle the beast.
Altogether she spent tolerabiy
pleasant three weeks. Autumn's gor.
geous paintbrush laid wonderful col.
oring upon the maple and alder and
birch that lined the lake shore. The
fall run OF the salmon was on, and
every stream was packed with the
silver horde. threshing thru shoal and
rapid TO reach the spawning ground
before they died. OFF every creek
mouth and all along the lake the seal
followed to prey upon the salmon,
and sea-trout and Takers alike
swarmed to the spawning beds 10
feed upon the roe. The days short.
ened. Sometimes n fine rain would
drizzle for hours on end, and when
II would clear, the saw-toothed
ranges thanking the lake would stand
out all freshly robed in white-a
mantle that crept lower on the fir.
clad slopes after each storm. The
winds that whistled off those heights
nipped sharply.
Early in October Charlie Benton
had squared his neighborly account
with Jack Fyfe. With crew and
equipment he moved home. to begin
work anew on his own limit.
Katy John and her people came
back from the salmon fishing. Jim
Renfrew. still walking with a pro-
nounced limp, returned from the hos.
pItal. Charlie wheedled Stella into
taking UP the cookhouse burden
again. Stella consented; in truth she
,nttI1 t,nthtnr, al III