Show ahe M an in ta loom X on d el by HAROLD TITUS copyright ht 1323 lm harcum titus lc SYNOPSIS sen ron allott from Yona Yon derl cr arrives at the little lumbering town of tincup accompanied by don stuart old ver very y alck c k man whom ho he has befriended H he e vl g nal zee his hi coming by defeating dull bull duval king ot of the river and town bully in a los log birling contest nicholas dranden the towns town leading citizen resents stuarts Ls presence he tries to force him to leave town and elliott El llott resenting the act knocks him down elliott Is arrested CHAPTER II 11 continued 4 oh that I 1 dont know I 1 ask I 1 forgot it I 1 interested in your fine we can take care ot of that I 1 was interested in lading finding out about you what kind of a nut net cracker you are the young gray eyes were studying the old blue ones closely now 1 I found out able continued he says bays youre no good in the pause the justlee chuckled softly ile he says youre absolutely no good to yourself or anybody else he tells me that you know more about lo 10 logging ang and sawmills than any man your age lias has a right to know and hes seen a lot of men ile he says you can make the worst crew that ever infested a shanty eat out of your hand he ghys says you dont know what it Is to be tired or afraid and then he says again that youre no use on earth so far as he can tell belll P elliott was grinning a bit foolishly now BOW and rubbed his chin able went on he told me that before the war your war not ours figured you as one of the prize young men in their organization but that since youve come home theres nothing do you can do anything he be says but you wont I 1 asked him why and he said he guessed it was because everything they had to offer you was too simple which I 1 translated to mean that they haveit a good tough hickory nut to offer you the others rather embarrassed smile faded was lie he mad he asked was he really sore at me siad mad like anybody else would be I 1 take it it if they saw a young man they thought a lot of wasting his time 1 I im III corryl sorry I 1 I 1 think a lot of mr air 33 Erld ridger ger he certainly has been white with me ive tried judge honest ive tried to give em all I 1 had but bur but hes right the war upset me like a lot of others I 1 got gor my feet ion en the ground yet after the big show everything else seems too d d easy likely you tried my job yet able said gravely gravels being a justice in tincup no not that my real job my real tough nut Is being administrator for an estate the SIc Manus estate which Is nothing more than as pretty a piece of hardwood as ever stood outdoors the hoot owl stuff we call it trying to operate it to a profit and hang on as administrator so some other man wont step in and give that stuff away is my particular hard nut and its a chore elliott ile he eyed the younger man a brief interval and caught ills his breath quickly 1 I like the way you looked at nick brandon in court this afternoon no young man has looked at him that way since I 1 can remember athy hy I 1 telephoned bridger because I 1 liked the way you looked at brandon and because im about worn out trying to crack a hard nut why im here maybe from nhat v hat bridger told me and from what ive seen ot of you you might maybe perhaps like to take a crack at this nut nul after a moment he be repeated you might possibly the fact Is im through git elliott ive given the job all I 1 had im at my wits end and the estates at its ropes end were licked as we stand now and the truth Is that maybe perhaps possibly I 1 might do a right fair job of begging you to come and help me I 1 elliott did nor speak but watched able as he tumbled fumbled in his pocket for a sketch map able paused for a moment and then continued come over by the window now heres the layout lay out spreading the map on the sill heres the railroad main line this Is hoot owl siding with our mill twenty men there some living la in shanties and the boarding house tak ing care of the rest its a long narrow strip you see seventy six forties uncut four miles cilles of slash to north of the mill our railroad goes up through the chopping so BO weve an old coffeepot coffee pot of twenty ton ron rod engine and frel freight itt cars all more or less ready for junk heres the camp now and were cutting on the second forty north got dot thirty odd hands there that pass for men harrington was handling it for me man named cullers bullers millwright and a fellow named Rup hupperts boss at camp Harring tons gone driven out and were in the soup I 1 ile he paused and looked at elliott El llott whose keen eyes were studying the tha detail of the map its a haywire outfit the lococo tive live broke down yesterday and unless the boys get her working llie lie inlall will be b olt of logs loga in a week tile the mill itself is a granil old ruin hut saws after a fashion the lumber ln in the yards Is mortgaged up to the last cull piece theres not enough in the bank to meet interest and payroll pay roll and theres no boss on the job elliott looked at the old man you said it was as pretty a piece ot of hardwood as ever stood outdoors if so whys ghys it in this jam able armitage lifted a hand in gesture and whispered sharply one word brandon een ben put down the map replaced the pipe stem between his teeth and shoved his hands deep into pockets brandon eh he nodded checks out on the stories id heard so brandona Bran dons put you on the toboggan I 1 why able shrugged probably because beat use its kept itself out of his hands for so long ong and besides there are other reasons six years ago I 1 was made administrator of this estate and to keep the carrying charges from eating earing it up I 1 started to operate there a chance to sell the stumpage to anybody bod y but brandon Nob odys going to put their money into a deall eldden county like this there are too many stories going round of happened to others who have tried to work alongside nick we had to cut and mill or sell the stumpage to brandon at his own price maybe it if it had been nine mine id have sold but the owner of this timber Is an orphan girl and a nan man like to quit under chose those circumstances but every man ive put on to run the thin thing has been beaten and ive had some good ones there they cant get decent crews in the first wee ace buller the millwright thomas the camp cook and a crazy irishman named birdeye bird eye blaine chos barn boss are the only three men you can count on brandon spies the good men who come along and if they dont work for him he sees to it that ills his dull bull duval drives lent em out of the country and this matter marter of labor Is only one item that he makes hard to supply until now he been able to touch me ive managed to hold out against him politically cut but hes watching and the probate court Is watching and unless I 1 show some progress by the first of the year im going to be booted out as administrator with another administrator in control hell buy this timber for a song a girl will be robbed and the shame of this community will be complete and what whar makes you think elliott asked that ive got a chance to put it over when other men have failed able did not hesitate because you have youth and a liking for tough nuts ne ile did not smile his eyes snapped and his voice rose son putting a hand on his shoulder id take bridgers word on men quicker than id take the word of any nan man I 1 know ile he says you can do it it if you will im asking you now as an old man with his back to the wall will you help me on this ben elliott did not reply at once lie ile was staring at the floor as one will when debating with himself and preparing for argument with another lie he twisted his head gravely and smiled then lie he looked into ables face when do we start he asked the justice swallowed you tou ready now without knowing any more about it 1 I know enough its good timber and itis brandon xhos chos messing up the detail lets go judge I 1 lt it was just before whistle time next nert morning at the loot owl mill hlll chos th young feller with able abe the tr immerman asked the filer new boss him the spat and leaned further forward for a better look at ben elliott as he stood talking to the sawyer in the gloom of early day say aint he the lad that ducked th bull nd took a poke at brandon th same well ill be d d I 1 only a kid he may be a good hand on a birlin log but wont nick brandon find him sweet lie ile likes ena em young nick does and specially after this one took such pains to make himself unpopular with mister yup hell be duck soup for bran don all rl right glit the hand of 0 the millwrights watch approached the hour the sawyer pulled the signal cord the big shaft commenced to turn and from machine to machine ma cliine went buller while able and ben watched examining belting grease cups seeing that live rollers ran steadily and true the pulleys turned slowly for a full five minutes and then as the cracked whistle atop the boiler house cackled its message that another working day had begun the carriage swept forward and the saw snarled its way into a good maple log elliott stirred on his feet it was the way a mill should start anyhow but after that be beginning inning the procedure was not so good the sawyer was as not quick in making decisions twice in a half dozen logs his slabs were thick to the point of waste he did rot cot turn one particularly good piece as boon as lie should to grade his lumber to the highest point the setter too was mediocre the deck man loafed and lot the bull chain fill up and stop even when his deck was half empty the mill crew was not happy they appeared to be men working for a cause they felt was lost hen bea went with buller then from man to man and watched each do his work in the yard they passed logs rolled to one side much veneer stuff good as that thail ben asked eyeing them not much coming in now but theres a lot of it standing buller answered buyer in here ten days ago looking up birdseye birds eye maple and veneer birch harrington was saving it as it came in some of it he had too many things to think about harrington did the buyers due back any day though markets up I 1 guess hell probably pay a fancy figure for what wo we have to offer him then he went to the particular problem confronting them with the locomotive laid up the steady supply of logs from camp to mill would be cut off snow was falling lightly now but alel sleighing hing might be days distant to log the mill by trucks was impractical he be declared and unless the railroad equipment could be put in working condition they might be forced to shut down fortunately a reserve log supply I 1 Y 0 of f a sort was on hand decked high beside the pond well have to break out this one deck now buller said ile he whistled and waved to the pond man picking up a peavey he led the way toward that high bank of maple beech and birch logs ben followed vat watching chIng the foreman as he surveyed the face of the deck and shook his head dubiously try the big birch first duller buller said bald to the pond man they engaged the hooks books of their peaveys pe aveys they heaved the log rolled away easily and lumbered down the incline to the water another and still another each coming away separately and starting no movement of others above them culler buller spat that d n beech butts in tight he said tapping the log with ills his peavey pick try her jim now be careful when she comes the whole decall move in a hurry they heaved to no result with a sharp lowi they heaved again but the beech nestling in the face of the deck at the height of a mans hip refused to budge hold oni on I 1 give you a hand band ben picked up a peavey and approached here take taka this end elliott El llott the foreman said moving in toward the center which was under the towering facade of the deck no go on back ill do the risk taking tor for this layout lay out tor for a while culler buller made no reply but grinned the pond man looked at ben approvingly and spat on his bis hands peavey peavey hooks bit the log logs s ends again a peavey point with all ben Ell ElI lotts strength bearing on it pried beneath the center of the reluctant beech now together I 1 lie lifted his weight from tile the ground ills peavey handle bent look out I 1 bullers voice was ehrl shrill 11 on the warning as no sent bent ben elliott elleott swinging to the right the key stick popped out all but upon ben the logs above settled with a heavy mutter and then with that thunderous ringing booming sound of hardwood in motion they rolled upon him elliott had dropped his peavey leaped nimbly over the beech na as it struck the ground and bounced on its way to the water ho he hopped to the first log and spurned it with his one foot landed on the following with both hesitated a split instant and stepped to yet another arms spread balancing carefully watching those logs as a boxer watches his opponents blows he went up that zooming booming avalanche as it came down he danced to the left as the end of one stick swung out to clout him to a pulp ile he ran rapidly over three that lumbered down beneath him and paused two came riding together one atop the other a moving barrier as high as ills his waist buller opened ills his lips in a cry of warning but thrusting out one hand touching the topmost of the pair ever so lightly lien ben vaulted over landing on another that rolled and grumbled behind the two crevasses Cre be tween tweda logs opened and closed before him sticks popped out of tho the tremendous pressure and rolled down slantwise imperiling Impe riling him lie ile did not run rapidly at times lie ho seemed to move with painful with dangerous deliberation but he was watching the logs loga and his chances and did not make a move until he ha was certain of 0 where he was going slowly the deck settled halt half of what had bad been piled logs now bobbed and swayed and rolled in the pond the rest reduced from the height to which it had towered a few seconds before came to rest and lien ben elliott El llott ou on its lowered lovered crest stood still a moment until certain the movement was wag ended and then came down looking not at the men who gaped at him but ut at the logs over which he walked with a critical appraising eye atta boy an unidentified voice ye id above the roar of tho the carriage exhaust but it if elliott heard this he gave ive no indication now if buller cant get that locomotive solus going by noon boon lie he said to the palo pale and visibly shaken able well telegraph for a new spider no uso use taking more chances come on buller lets look at the stuff youve got piled blinking the millwright followed him Y G dl dai muttered the pond man slick shod he ha went over that face I 1 slick shod chodl Y G dl di an hour later the mill stood silent for five minutes while a broken conveyor chain was repaired in that interval every man on the job had heard the story r Y G dl di slick shod the pond man said again and again cool like a watermelon on ice when they started the head sawyer was grinning and it seemed as though the saw stayed in the log more constantly than it had bad before as if the mill functioned with greater s smoothness 1 n as it if something in the nat nature u re of enthusiasm went into the labor along with brawn and experience CHAPTER III not so in the camp where men and horses tolled to make decks of logs by night out of what at dawn had been standing trees nearly halt the crew were finns finds stolid uncommunicative fellows good enough workmen but difficult to speed up arent there any good men left loose around here ben asked able on his first trip to town old tim jeffers Is the only man chos stood out against nick and hes the best logger these woods have ever seen but he like brandon cant work for him and Is so disgusted that hes quit the timber and settled down on a farm lie he set foot in a camp for three years and swears he |