The Owosso times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1897-1926, 1920-06-11
.CHATTERTON'S
SLIDE
BY WILL T. AMES

/
the train boss, to McNider. the engi.
neer Of the log train.
"Who said so?" demanded McNider,
hating in his task of tinkering the
leaky cyelinder Of the queer little loco
motive.
His Nibs," replied Peltier with a
shrug of his shoulders that confirmed
the indication of French descent pro-
videds by his name.
| Il thought his sister was going out
| with u.s." Evidently McNider couldn't
reconcile the presence of a woman on
the log train with the gratuitous
perils of nine-length load, over the
tOrtuOIs curves and breathless gradi-
ents of the Burke company's road.
$50 she is" cOrrOborated the train
boss.
'Well, I'll be ID"
what are you going to do with a
fellow like Greener?" exclaimed Pei
tier. 81 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
Nickamaugs 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 fiat 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. middlesiZed 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 ito school and college.
For Peltfer, senior, was making little
money as 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 1t was to find his
away and the task Of getting a living
before himg 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-
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
lists contempt for the conventionali-
ties, had permitted herself and per-
mitted Peltier degree Of intimacy i'm
their friendship that led, as the down
hill flow of water, to q frank confess
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 diseOv-
cred that her artist colony democracy
was only skin deep-and she had
stung Peltier as woman can sting
"A man only when she realizes that 1t
Is the difference In their social posi-
tons 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 planks 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, won't you
please ride the rest Of the way I'm 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. Peltler." returned Miss Green
er, 81 do not wish you to concern your
self with my safety at all. don't I'M
derstand why my brother keeps I'm
position where a little nerve is neces-
sary person $3.50 extremely APP
prehensive."
What could a man do after that but
turn on his heel 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?
II was half way down the long
"slide" on Chatterton's ridge that Il |
happened. McNider had been easing
The ponderous. notwithstanding nine |