The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1935-03-01

"Oh, l see." Ben looked at a cal
endar. ut took them five days to get
1t back to me. Can't wait that long.
Give me telegraph blank. I'll have
'em notify me by wire when they ship
and If have to meet trains myself i.
why, can do that, too"
The other nodded and gave Ben a
worried look.
Il sort of liked the way you did up
Duval in that log rollin'; and heard
about the trimmln' you gave him at
camp. And I'm Well, I've seen
enough raw stuff go on around this
mans town to feed me up. I'll help
you all 1 can but I've got kids to
think about"
Ben made wry face.
"Even children don't seem SAFE" he
said. "Some Of us have got only our
dander invested in the particular fra
Gus I'm mixing in, but everything the
little McManus girl has got is at
stake"
"Yup. You're Little girl?"
Eyes. The McManus girl. She owns
the Hoot Owl"
"Oh," the agent said with a queer
look.
The following morning, half hour
after the men had gone to the woods,
sawyer came running toward the
camp office just in time to catch Ben
before he left for the mill.
"Hi, Elliott" he called. 'tHold on
minute!"
He came breathlessly up to the
sleigh.
Somebody cut three inches often the
measures last night. Thought you
ought to know. Logs three inches
short might be thrown out"
Somebody cut How'd you find
that out?"
"Well, we left the measuring stick
layin' on tree we'd dropped last
night. I'd marked 1t myself, figurin
on making one more log before we
quit and then we decided not to. 1t
showed just a mite durin' the night.
I laid the measure down again this
morning and made another mark, for
getting about the first which was COW
cred up with snow, you see. When
marked, it knocked the snow off the
log, showing up my first one three
inches off. l thought that was funny
so 1 measured again. Somethin' was
wrong, sure. We looked her over and
found where a piece had been cut off
the stick and then we saw where
tracks,"
BE with you pronto," Ben muttered
as he turned his team back toward the
barn.
He found five of the saw gangs with
shortened measures. Fortunately, the
discovery was made early in the day
and only few under-length logs had
been made. However, it proved to Ben
that menacing influences struck in I'M
expected ways and from all quarters.
An unexplained snowshoe trail was
found which led in from the north
and none knew who had made it. The
visitor evidently had gone out by road
in the dead Of night.
"Seems to me-" Bird-Eye said that
night, "that / heard bout two fellys
trappin' over feminist Squaw lake.
Moight be they amt trappers a-tall,
a-tall!"
Shortly after dinner on the follow
ing day Ben Elliott set out to investi-
gate this story of trappers' camp on
Squaw lake, which lay to the north
ward of. Hoot Owl.
Things were going swimmingly on
the job. He was bit ahead even Of
the stiff schedule of production he had
set for himself and if the weather held
reasonably good and he could Illustrate
these attempts to slow him up, he
would turn the trick which engaged
him for the present.
1t was a good six miles to Squaw
lake but he did not follow the most
direct route. Swung right and left
now and then, smiling when he came
on a particularly fine piece Of timber.
Certainly, the Hoot Owl stuff looked
better every time he went through 1t.
Money standing on end for an orphan
girl If he, Ben Elliott, should be strong
euOuSu W OuLldSb 4SlSHOldS oIdAuOA .
ruthlessness and persistencel He won
dered about Dawn McManus, known
and marked as the daughter of MUIR
derer. Tough. he told himself, for a
child to grow up under cloud like
that.
He started back after fruitless In
vestigation, and had not gone more
than halfway to camp when he came
suddenly upon fresh snowshoe trail.
He stopped short with little thrill.
Another prowler? The one who had
shortened his measures yesterday? The
tracks were only moments old, he knew
by the way the freshly falling snow
lay in them.
He took the trail at a swift walk,