The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, 1925-11-03
CHAPTER VIII

| or the Dyel trlDe.
CHAPTER VIII
1t was a still, clear morning, bu
autumn was in the air and pal.
sun lacked the necessary heat te
melt a skin of ice which. during tn,
night, had covered stagnant pools
The damp moss which carpets north
ern forests was hoary with frost ane
it cracked underfoot. Winter wa!
near and its unmistakable approach
could be plainly felt.
A saw-pit had been rugged upon
a sloping hillsidc-it consisted Of
four posts about six feet long upor
which had been laid four stringers
like the stills of house; up to thi:
scaffold led pair of inclined skids
Resting upon the stringers was Z
stable spruce log which had beer
squared and marked with parable
chalk-lines and into which a whip
saw had eaten for several feet. Bal
anced upon this log was Tom Lin
ton; in the sawdust directly unde1
him stood Jerry Quirk. Mr.. Lintor
| glarcd downward, Mr.. Quirk squint
ed fercely upward. Mr.. Lintor
showed his teeth in an ugly grir
and his voice was hoarse with fury
Mr. Ouirk's gray mustache bristlee
with rage, and anger had raised hi
conversational tone to high pitch
Both men were perspiring, both wer'
shaken to the core.
"Don't shore" Mr.. Quirk ex
claimed, in shrill irritation. "Hov
many times d'you want me to tel
you not to shove? You bend tn
internal thing"
II never showed" Linton said
tl,ickly. Maybe we'd do better i
you'd quit hanging your weight OF
those handles every time l lift. I
you've got to chin yourself, taxi
a limb-or I'll build you a trapezc
You pull down, then femme lift"
| Mr.: Quirl danced with fury
Chin myself? Shuclss! YOUR
petered out, that's what ais you
You 'aint got the grit and you'v'
tllrowcd up your tail. Lift her clear
don't try to saw goin' up, the tcetl
amt set that way. Lift, take bite
then lego. Lift. bite, leggo. Lift
bite"
Don't say that again." shoutce
Linton. I'm patient man. but
lie swallowed hard, then with diff
Guilty voiced solemn, vibrant warn
ing, Don't say it again, that's all!
Defiance instantly flames in Jerry.
watery eyes: "I'll say it if want
to" he yelled. "Ili say anything
feel like sayin'! Some folks can,
understand English; some folk
have got lignumvity heads and you
have to tell en-" ~. ..
"You couldn't tell me anything
"Sure! That's just the trouble
thing"
II whip-sawed before you wa.
born!'
Astonishment momentarily robbed
Mr.. Quirk of speech. then he broke
out more Indignantly than ever
why, you lynn l,orse-thief, YOU
never heard of whip-saw till VIC
bought Our outfit. Nou was for ~.
ing one end to limb and the other
end to root and then rubin the
log up and down it."
Il never meant that. I was fool.
ing and you know it. That's just
like YOU, to"
"Say, if you'd ever had holt OF
a whip-saw in all your useless life,
the man on the other end of it would
have belted you with the handle and
buried YOU in the sawdust. Id ought
to. but l amt got the heart" The
speaker spot on his hands and in a
calmer. more business-likc tone said
well. come on. Let's go. This i.
our last board"
Tom Linton checked an insulting
remark that had just occurred &c
him. 1t had nothing whatever tc
do with the subject under dispute
but it would have goaded Jerry tc
insanity, therefore it clamored fo,
expression and the temptation tc
hurl it forth was almost irresistible
Linton, however, pridcd himself
upon his self-rcstraint, and accord.
ingly he swallowed his words. HI
clicked his teeth. he gritted them
he would have enjoved singing their
into his partners throat, as a mat,
ter of fact-then he growled, 'Iaet
her Whiz" ~@t
In unison the men resumed tle;,
interrupted labors; slowly, rhvth-
mically, their arms moved I'D and
down, monotonously their aching
backs bent and Strengthened, inch by
inch the saw blade ate along the
penciled line. 1t was killing work,
for it called into play unusual, I'M
der-devclopcd muscles. yes. muscles
which did not and never would or
could exist. Each time Linton lift
ed the saw it grew heavier by the
fraction of a pound. Whenever
Quirk looked lip to note progress his
eyes were filled with singing par
ticles of sawdust. His was a tearful
job: sawdust was in his hair, his
beard, it had sifted down inside his
neckband and it itched his moist
body. 1t had worked into his I'M
dercIothes and he could not escape
it even at night in his bed. He had
of late acquired the habit of repeat
ing over and over. with pertinac-
ity intensely irritating to his part
ner. that he could taste sawdust III
his food-a statement manifestly
false and well calculated to offend
camp cook.
(To be continued)