The Press., 1920-05-27
CHATTERTON's
 SLIDE
By WILL T. AMES

neer of the log train.
 "Who said so?" demanded McNider, halting in his task of tinkering the leaky cyclinder of the queer little loco motive.
 His. Nibs," replied Peltier with a shrug of his shoulders that confirmed the indication of French descent pro- vided by his name.
 'I thought his sister was going out with us." Evidently McNider couldn't reconcile the presence of a woman on the log train with the gratuitous perils of a nine-length load, over the tortuous curves and breathless gradi- ents of the Burke company's road. "So she is," corroborated the train boss.
 "Well, I'll be d|d!" "What are you going to do with fellow like Greener?" exclaimed Pel- tier. "I asked him if he had for gotten that Miss Janice was going on the train, and he bawled me out ask ed me who thought was; said they often hauled eleven and twelve on the Nickamaug's road"
 Sure! I'd rather haul twenty there than six here," commented the engineer.
 "Well, there you are! We haul the nine, and Miss Greener goes-and like enough she'll get smashed flat between couple of twelve-inch butts!' And the train boss took himself somberly off to see that the five "lengths" of great spruce logs were slowed as safe on their trucks as human care could make them.
 Dave Peltier, middle-sized, strong, 1.-the, had been born to the woods like his father before him. But he had yielded to the pet desire of the father and had gone to school and college. For Peltier, senior was making a little money as a woods jobber and was pos sessed to spend it on an education for the boy; which is often the way with men who have had no schooling them selves. The war came when Dave was in his sophomore year at Tech and he had gone over with the first contingent of foresters.
 When he got back it was to find his father dying. the little business melted away and the task of getting a living before him. He had been train boss for the Burke outfit when the new manager. Greener, came; and he had at once attracted the attention of Miss Janice Greener when that young wom- an arrived a month ago, to visit her brother and, principally, to get new material for the paintings of winter woods and lumber camps which had already brought her some measure of success.
 The girl, pluming herself on an art ists contempt for the conventionali- ties, had permitted herself and per mitted Peltier a degree of intimacy in their friendship that led, as the down. hill flow of water, to a frank confes- sion of regard by the young woods man; for Dave Peltier had never thought of himself as the inferior of any being on earth.
 The consequences had been calami- tous. Janice Greener suddenly discov- cred that her artist colony democracy was only skin deep-and she had stung Peltier as a woman can sting a man only when she realizes that it is the difference in their social posi- tions which alone makes his proffered love impossible of acceptance. This was two days before Janice's depar- ture from the camp.
 Miss Greener should have travelled in the cab. Instead she had insisted in riding, somehow, on the logs. So Peltier, obeying an order of the man. ager, had built an ingenious little plat form of blanks over the rear truck of the fifth length, above the logs. Here. nestled among half a dozen old fur coats, the headstrong girl was snugly perched as the lurching train bumped along on its twenty-mile journey to the mills. At the Red Barn came to her Peltier, urged on by visible worry.
 Miss Greener," he said. wont you please ride the rest of the way in the cab. It's really dangerous among the logs. We're going to take on four more lengths here; they'll be behind you. If anything happens you'll be right in the middle of it."
 "Mr Peltier." returned Miss Green CT, "I do not wish you to concern your- self with my safety at all. I don't un- derstand why my brother keeps in position where a little nerve is neces- sary person so-sO extremely ap- prehensive."
 What could man do after that but turn on his lreel and stalk away? And what could a girl do after saying 1t but look as pert and unconcerned as possible-and wish she had bitten her tongue off before she did say it? It was half way down the long "slide" on ChattertOn's ridge that 1t happened McNider had been easing the pOnderous. notwithstanding nine lengths down the ghastly grade by inches and feeling his little engine grow lighter and weaker under his hand each instant.
 The train crew was running beside the train, squeezing the brake shoes with the ridiculous hand cranks that must be operated from the ground Suddenly McNider turned to Joe Kylie his foreman.
 About here Is where we get off. Joe Everything's set up and she's in reverse. but the damned weights go- ing to push old Betsy right up into the air. We'll hit the bottom at hull dred an hour and pile up sky high in the river. Jump"
 They made it safely enough, and watched the train, gaining momentum at every yard, speed past to its doom.
 My God! The grill" McNider. helpless on the ground, had caught sight of Janice, white-faced and now desperately frightened, clinging to her pitiful seat of state. Mot a chance in l the world for her!" breathed the engi- i neer.