The Jones County news., 1920-12-23

board Of a wind 1ammer inward bound
I'd tow of a Cardig7n,rug
ITS wonderful" sac said presently.
apropos .of nothing.
AYE, he replied in his deep, melo-
dious voice, 1--WE been sitting here. my
dear, listening TO your thoughts. You
know something, now, Of the tie that
binds my boy TO sequoia. This"-he
waved his arm abroad in the dark
ness-"this is the true essence OF life
10 create, to develop the gifts that
God has given us--to work and know
the blessing OF weariness-to have
dreams and see them come true That
is life. and have lived. And now
am ready to rest" He smiled visit
fully. "'The king IS dead. Long live
the king wonder II you, raised as
you have been. can face life In Sequoia
resolutely with my son. It IS a duh.
drab sawmlll town. where life unfolds
gradually without thrill-where the
years stretch ahead of one with only
trees. among simple folk. The life
may be hard on you. Shirley: one has
to acquire taste for It, you know"
81 have known the lit Of battle,
John-partner" she 2nswered; thence
] think | can enjoy the sweets of vic
tory am content"
"And what q run you did give that
boy Bryce !"
She laughed softly. "1 wanted him
to Hght I had great curiosity to see
the stun that was In him. she ex-
plnined
Next day Bryce Cardigan, riding the
top log on the end truck Of long
train just in from Cardigan's woods
In Township Nine, dropped from the
end Of the log as the train crawled
through the mill yard on its way to
the log dump. He hailed Buck Ogilvy,
where the latter stood in the door OF
the Office.
Big! doings up on little LAUREL
creek this morning, Buck"
"pos tellw Mr.. Ogilvy murmured
morosely. 80.
1T was great" Bryce continued.
"Old Duncan McTavish returned. E. I
knew ne would. His year on the
mourner's bench expired yesterday,
and ne came back to claim his old Job
Of woods boss"
7zSs ppe yeaf too late" OgilvySde-
clared. IL wouldn't let that big Cana
dian Jules Rondeau quit for a farm.
Some woods boss, that-and his first
Job with this company was the dirtiest
you could hand him--smearing grease
on the skid road at dollar and a half
a day and found. He's made too good
10 lose out now. don't care what his
private morals may be. He can get
out the logs, hang his rascally hide,
and I'm for him "
I'm afraid you haven't anything to
say about 1t, Buck" Bryce replied
dryly.
Il haven't eh7 Wen. any time you
deny me the privilege Of hiring and
firing you're going to be out the serv-
Ice OF rattling good general mana
ger, my son. Yes, siri II you hold
me responsible for results j must Sc
lect the tools want to work with"
"Oh. very well" Bryce laughed.
"Have It your own way. Only If you
can drive Duncan McTavish out. Of
Cardigan's woods I'd like to see you
do 1t. q" Possession is nine points of
the law. Buck-and Old Duncan is in
possession" -
''What do you mean-in possessionr
II mean that at ten o'clock this
morning Duncan McTavish appeared
at our log landing. The whisky fat
was all gone from him and he' APP.
peased forty years old instead OF the
sixty that he is. With whoop he
came jumping over the logs, straight
for Jules Rondeau. The big Canuck
saw him coming and knew what his
visit portended-so he wasn't taken
unawares. IT was case Of fight for
his iob-and Rondeau fought"
"The devil you sayw
~ do-and there was the devil to.
pay. II was a rough and tumble and
no grips barred-just the kind of a.
fight Rondeau likes Nevertheless Old
Duncan fioored him. While he's been
away somebody taught him the ham
mer lock and the crotch hold and a
few more fancy ones, and he got to
work on Rondeau In a hurry. In
fact he had to, for II the tussle had
gone over fve minutes Rondeau's
youth would have decided the issue"
"And Rondeau was whippedY"
ITO a whisper. Mac fioored him.
and choked him until he beat the
ground with his free hand in token of
surrender: whereupon old Duncan let
him up. and Rondeau went TO his
shanty and packed his turkey. The
last ] saw OF him he was headed over
the hill to Camp Two on Laguna
Grnnde. He'll probably chase that as
sIstant woods boss / hired after the
consolidation out OF Shirley's woods
and help himself to the fellows job.
don't care If he does. What interests
me is the fact that the old Cardigan
woods bess is back on the job in Car
digan's woods, and Tn mighty glad OF
It, The old horsethief has had his
lesson and viii remain sober here
after think he's cured"
r. ~