Show the he man t from ir 0 M monue yon ON by HAROLD TITUS W N u arvio copyright harow titusie SYNOPSIS ben ba elliott from yonder Yon dee sir rives kt at the little lumbering town ol of tincup accompanied by don stuart old very tell sick roan inan whom h he has bag befriended H he signalizes his coming by defeating bull duval king of 0 the th river and nd town bully bolly in a log lob birling content con teat nicholai brandon the town leading cit leen resents stuarts presence pre tence he tries trie to lo fo force r e e him to leave town and nd tallo billott EI llott t t r resenting es e n ting the act knocks knock him blin down EIJI billott ott is I 1 arrested CHAPTER II 11 continued oh that I 1 dont know I 1 ask I 1 forgot it I 1 interested in your fine we can take care of that I 1 was wag interested in finding out about you what kind of 0 a bout cracker you yon are the young gray eyes were studying the old blue ones closely now 1 1 I found out able continued he says youre no good in the pause the justice chuckled softly he says youre absolutely no good to yourself or anybody else ile he tells me that you know more about logging and sawmills than any man your age has a right to know and hes heb seen a lot of men ile he says you can make the worst crew that ever infested tested tn a shanty eat out of your band he says bays you dont know what it la is to be tired or afraid and then he be says bays again that youre no use on earth so go far as he can tell I 1 elliott was grinning it a bit foolishly how BOW and rubbed his chin able went on ile 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 too can do anything he says but you wont I 1 asked him why and he said he guessed it was because everything they had to offer you yon was too simple which I 1 translated to mean that they li avent a good tough hickory nut to offer you yoo the others rather embarrassed smile faded was wag he mad he asked was he be really sore at me mad like anybody else would be I 1 take it it if they saw a young man they thought a lot of wasting hla his time rm im corryl I 1 think a lot of mr bridger ile de certainly has been white with me ive tried judge honest ive tried to give cm cin all I 1 had but but hes right the war upset me like a lot of 0 others I 1 got my feet on the ground yet after the big show otTery thing else seems too d d basyl likely you tou tried my lob job yet able said gravely being a justice in Tin tincup cupl no not that my real job my real tough nut Is being administrator for an estate the mcmanus estate which la Is nothing more than as pretty a piece of hardwood ns be ever stood outdoors the hoot owl stuff we call it fr trying to operate it to a profit and hang bang on as administrator so some other man wont step in and give that stuff away Is my particular bard nut and its a chore elliott EI llott ile he eyed the younger man a brief interval and caught his breath quickly 1 I like the way you looked at nick brandon la in court this afternoon no young routis man has looked at him that way since I 1 can remember why I 1 telephoned baldger because I 1 liked the way you looked at brandon and because im about worn out trying to crack a hard bard nut why im id here maybe from what bridger told me and from what ive seen of 0 you you night maybe perhaps like to take a crack at this nut after a moment he repeated you might possibly the tact fact la Is im tb trough rough elliott EI llott ive given the lob job all I 1 bad im at my wits end and the estates at its ropes end were licked as we stand now and the truth la Is that mabbe maibe perhaps possibly I 1 might do a right fair job of begging you to come and help me inel I 1 elliott did not nor speak but watched able as he fumbled in his pocket for a sketch map able paused for a moi ment and then continued come over by the window now heres the layout lay out spread spreading irig the map HP on the meres heres the railroad main line this Is hoot owl siding biding with our mill twenty men there some living in shanties aud and the boarding house tak ing care of the rest its a long narrow strip you see seventy six forties uncut four miles of slash to north of the mill our railroad goes up through the chopping so weve an old coffeepot coffee pot of twenty ton ron rod engine w and nd freight cars all more or less leas ready f for junk heres the camp now and were cutting on the second forty north i got thirty odd hands there that pass for men harrington was handling it tor for me van ilan named bullert bullers millwright and a f fellow named Rup hupperts boss at camp gone driven out and were in the soup I 1 ue paused and looked at elliott El llott otiose hose keen eyes were studying the detill detail of the oie map its ita a hayN haywire Lre outfit the locomotive broke down yesterday and unless the boys get her working the mill will be out olit of logs lo in a week the mill idelt 12 a old ruin but saws after a fashion the th lumber isk 1 the yards ll Is mortgaged up to the last lait cull piece there not enough in the bank to meet interest and payroll pay ply roll and theres there no boss on the job E allott looked at the old man you lou said ald it was wag as pretty a piece of hardwood as ever stood outdoors it if so EO whys ghys it in this jam able armitage lifted a hand in gesture and whispered sharply one word brandon 1 ben put down the map replaced the pipe stem between his teeth and shoved his hands deep into pockets brandon Dr andon eh he nodded checks out on the stories id heard so Bran brandona dons put you on the toboggan why able shrugged probably because its kept itself out of his hands tor for so EO ions iong and besides there are other rp anns six years ago I 1 was made administrator of this estate and to keep the carrying charges from eating it up I 1 started to operate there ft a chance to sell the file stumpage to anybody but brandon Nob odys going to put their money into a devil ridden county like this I 1 there are too many stories going round of happened to others who have tried to work alongside nick we had to eu cut t and mill or sell the stumpage to brandon at his own price maybe it if it had bad been mine id have sold but the owner ot of this timber Is an orphan girl and I 1 a man like to quit under 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 pam pace 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 it if they dont work for him he sees to it that his bull duval drives em out ot of the country and this matter 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 but hes watching and the probate court la Is watching and unless I 1 show some gome progress by the first ot of the year im going to be booted out as administrator with another administrator in control hell buy this timber for a song gong a girl will be robbed and the thame shame ot of this community will be complete comple tel I 1 and what 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 he did not smile his eyes snapped bad and his voice rose son putting a hand band on bis big shoulder id take bridgers word on men quicker than id take the word of 0 any man I 1 know ile he says you can do it if you will im asking you now its as an old man with his back to the wall will you help me on this ben elliott did not reply at once he was staring at the floor as one will when debating with himself and preparing for argument with another he twisted his head gravely and suil smiled led then he looked into ables face when do we start he asked the justice swallowed you ready now without knowing any more about it 1 I know enough its good timber and its brandon chos messing up the detail lets go judge V 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 it was just before whistle time next morning at the hoot owl mill hlll chos th young feller with abbel the Ulm merman asked the flier filer new kew boss him the tr Immerman spat and leaned further forward tor for a better look at ben elliott elleott as he be stood talking to the sawyer in the gloom of early day say I 1 aint he the lad that ducked th bull nd took a poke at brandon th ill same well ill be d d I 1 only a kid ile he may be a good hand band on a barllw log but wont nick brandon find him sweet beet alel lie he em young nick does I 1 and specially after this one took such pains to make himself unpopular with mister nick I 1 yup tup uell be duck soup for or brandou brandon all right the hand band of the millwrights watch approached the hour the sawyer pulled the signal cord the big shaft commenced to rum mm and from machine to rua machine chine went buller while able and ben watched examining belting grease cups cupa seeing that live rollers ran steadily and true the pulleys turned slowly for a full five fire minutes and then as the cracked whistle atop the holler boiler house bouse 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 hit his feet beet it was the way a mill should start anyhow but after that beginning the procedure was not to good the sawyer was not quick la in making decisions twice in a halt dozen logs his slabs were thick to the point of waste he did not turn one particularly good piece as soon as he should to grade his lumber to the highest point the setter better too was mediocre the deck man loafed and let the bull chain fill up op and stop even when his deck was halt half empty the mill crew was wa not cot happy they appeared to be men working for a cause they felt wa lost ben went with buller then from man to man and watched each do his work in the yard they passed logs logo rolled to one bide much veneer stuff good as that I 1 0 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 baying it as it came in some ot of it he bad too many things to think about harrington did the buyers due back any day th though ough markets up I 1 guess hell probably pay a fancy I 1 figure for what we have to offer him then he went to the particular pro problem b confronting them with the locomotive laid up the steady supply of 0 logs from camp to mill would be cut om off snow was falling lightly now but aleigh sleighing ing 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 kog supply of a sort was on hand band dec decked ed 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 n peavey he led the way toward that high bank 0 ot maple beech and birch logs ben fo followed watching the foreman as he surveyed the face of the deck and shook his head dubiously try the big birch first buller said to the pond man they engaged the hooks of their pe aveys they heaved Ii 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 buller spat that d n beech butts in tight he said tapping lapping the to log g with his bis peavey pick try her jim now be careful when she comes the whole decan move in a hurry they heaved to no result with a sharp now 1 they heaved again but the beech nestling in the face of the deck at the height of a mans hip refused to budge hold bold out give you yoo a hand ben picked up a peavey and approached here take 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 for this layout lay out for a while buller made no reply but grinned the pond man looked at ben approvingly and spat on his hands bands peavey hooks bit the logs logg ends again a peavey point with all ben elliotte strength hearing bearing on it pried beneath the center ot of the reluctant beech now together I 1 lie ile lifted his weight from the ground his peavey handle bent look out 1 bullers Bu llera voice ws wee shrill on the warning as no sent ben elliott swinging to the right the key stick popped out all but upon ben the logs above settled with a heavy mutter and then thea with that thunderous ringing booming sound of hardwood in motion they rolled upon him elliott elleott had dropped his bis peavey leaped nimbly over the beech as it struck the ground and bounced on its way to the water he hopped to the th 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 Us his opponents opponent 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 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 his waist buller opened his lips in a cry of 0 warning but thrusting out one hand band touching the topmost of the pair ever so lightly ben vaulted over landing on another that rolled and grumbled behind the two crevasses Cre between logs opened and closed before him sticks popped out of the tremendous pressure and rolled down slantwise imperiling Impe riling him ile he did not run rapidly at times he be seemed to move with painful with dangerous deliberation but he was watching the logs and his chances and did not make a move until he h was certain of abere he was going slowly the tha deck settled halt of what had been piled logs now bobbed and swayed and rolled in the tha pond the rest reduced from the height to which it had towered a few seconds second I 1 before came to rest and ben emlott t on its lowered crest stood still a moment until certain the movement was wa ended and then camo came slowly down dow n looking not at the men who gaped at him but at the logs over which aich he be walked with a critical appraising eye atta boyl an unidentified voice yelled above the roar of the tb carriage eur exhaust baust but if elliott heard this abl he be save gave no indication now if buller cant get that locomotive going by noon he said to the pale and visibly shaken able well telegraph for or a new dew spider no use taking more chances come on buller lets look at the stuff youve goi got piled blinking the millwright followed him T Y G di d muttered the pond man stick slick shod he went over that facet face I 1 slick shod IY y G dl 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 beard the story r G dl slick shod the pond man said again and again cool like a watermelon on ice acel I 1 when they started the head sawyer was grinning and it seemed as t though hough the saw stayed in the log more constantly than it had before as a it if the mill functioned with greater smoothness as it if something in the nature 0 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 ot of logs by night out of what at dawn had bad been standing trees nearly halt the crew were finns stolid uncommunicative fellows good enough workmen but difficult to speed up arent there any good men left lose loose around herel here |