| Show log ERO V 30 A romance of the north woods copyright 1032 by HAROLD TITUS U sercios Ser vios SYNOPSIS tom belknap big timber 0 pera opera tor ordered by his physicians t to 0 take a 41 com complete pis to rest plans a three months trip abroad promises of 0 advancement he ha has haa made mad to hi hla s son john are broken and th the youn young g man la Is indignant paul gorbel corbel belknapp Del Bel knaps partner whom john cordially dislikes Is a bone of contention rather father and son aon part without a complete understanding at shoestring his train delayed by a wreck john Is ordered to leave at once ile he refuses CHAPTER IT II continued 2 voices then sharp and profane someone struck him on the cheek and with an uppercut john dropped a man who charged in from the right the taste of blood on his lips goaded him they came on with a rush he kicked ones feet from under him and the falling fellow tripped another he struck and kicked and elbowed and ducked ills his head rocked sideways from a blow and he be squeezed his eyes shut for a split instant to check the mounting dizziness they could have had him down and beaten to a pulp in ona minute if used their heads they were too mad too eager to carry the fight they got tn in one an others way fended bended off the blows of their fellows bellows A man charging him checked and veered and he had a fleeting glimpse of a small figure on the edge of the group shoving at his assailants holding up a dissuading hand A voice then a girls voice was raised sharply stop I 1 stop it tiny ezra waybill I 1 let him alone I 1 the him was beyond a doubt john steele belknap but that young man was now in no mood to be let alone I 1 the figure of the leader was before him poised waiting perhaps tn in I 1 indecision n decision at the sudden wilting of spirit or intent among his fellows perhaps waiting on this stranger who was so unwelcome in their midst if for the latter his watt wait was brief because as he kicked free from those impending hands john rushed him striking out quickly with short savage blows glorying tn in this moment of even odds the man retreated slowly once he landed and jolted john severely but this advantage worked 1 against him because it tapped burled buried reservoirs of strength and fury and hard fists bore him backward into the glare that streamed from the open station doorway A cry then as john bareheaded face set burst into the light taint Tal nt him taint himl now this tiny might in another instant have had reason to claim that the shout distracted him did he care to lay upon an alibi but even before the words were past the lips that yelped them john found the opening lie he had been fighting for full on the point of stinys chin his knuckles struck and the mans legs sagged the force of the blow rocked him backward and he crumpled his head lolling to one side crunched oddly fla as it struck the wheel of a baggage truck john heard that sound and a tingle ran through him ile he lurched on forward crouching as if to pounce upon his fallen adversary well enough to knock the big devil out but he did not like that crunch I 1 hands clutched at his shoulder and a hoarse protest was in his ear get awall away 1 john cried shaking off the hands heedless or of the words and dropped to his knees in the snow beside the fallen man hit bit his cheadl someone cried as they gathered closely about a weir of legs damming clamming back light from the doorway get gel backall john snapped out of the light you I 1 the voice of authority that and it cut through a rising mutter from the crowd forced a falling back to let yellow light filter on the prostrate tiny the mans face was bruised and bleeding ile he lay lax and when john raised one of the great arms it dropped back limply the man breathed heavily and apprehension mounted in the boys consciousness get hold here I 1 sharply carry him inside where I 1 can seel and gently easily considering the mans weight he be slid an arm beneath the broad shoulders and raised the torso others helped for the most part wordlessly and they abey shuffled into t the waiting room with their burden placing it carefully on the floor beside th the stove john was heedless of the crowd that pressed close again he removed the thick cap from stinys head and with light careful fingers rummaged through the stiff hair ile he encountered no great bruise no depression the cap had been ample protection no fracture perhaps not even tiny stirred and moaned get me some snow I 1 john said and two scurried outside with his handkerchief he wiped blood from the man roans a chin and when the snow came he took a great handful and held it against brow and temples tiny grimaced and puckered his ups lips and stirred he moaned next and opened one eye and whimpered what th h 1 11 he began and the crowd stirred as in relief john drew a deep breath then and looked up at the faces above him weather beaten vigorous faces they were and as his eyes swept them they turned on him with curious expressions ile he wants to know what the h 1 11 he ha began and that makes two of us what the h I 1 does iti it I he broke short he had settled back to his heels searching those faces with a demand for explanation when he be saw her she had stood beside him looking down very small and slight of figure she was and the face beneath the snug turban of beaver was as gentle as those others were rough her eyes were dark and large and serious anore than serious perhaps possibly deep trouble rode in them to go with the repressed line of her mouth she was looking full in his face and as he broke ills his gruff question he inclined his head slightly as in recognition of a difference and in apology he caught his breath sorry I 1 to her 1 I should say whipping his glance to the men again a stranger to think of being ganged banged like this A slim wiry man who had squatted on the other side of the reviving tiny spoke we was ex expect pectin ln another party chum he said youre a match for him in size but you aint the one were loolen for this particular hard egg sent in to clean us out by old tom belknap I 1 johns head jerked he leaned tensely forward I 1 what he demanded it a long dra drawn w n word strained with surprise perhaps with something like shock 1 I said wed got news a certain party chos raised h 1 1 here was cornin comin in to put a chunk under a corner we aimed to get him back to kamp fest with bad news for old belknap abeln excited like we was and abeln dark like it was we mistook you for him not important bebby but true P john took a quick breath and let it out through his nostrils in an amazed whiff well ill bew be w he looked up again for the girls face as though an exchange of glances with her might clarify this bewildering situation she was gone he stared at the others but they were watching tiny who was being helped to a sitting posture by the smaller man all right tiny the other asked the big fellow felt his chin gingerly and his head bead and then shook it as it if to chase off the fog which impaired his faculties D he be git away he asked A chuckle from the crowd then away your grand grandma mal 1 there ho he sets tiny I 1 the dazed eyes followed the gesture and then blinked slowly 11 IY Y G d waybill way bill It alint him he said weakly no taint tal nt but this one i hes a stem winder anyhow that nd INA if this one was him P then wed have a lot more to worry about yes sir air if old belknap could hire em like you chuml chum to john then the company would have so methin to idy awake nights about abou till 1 tiny had been staring at john and now his gaze wavered as a mans will when he Is overcome with embarrassment get up he mumbled and john helped him to his tet fet the boys heart was pounding old tom starting that sort of trouble all right tiny waybill way bill asked and when assured that the late unconscious man was getting to be as good as new he turned to john guess its due you to explain a little he said and john caught some vague change in the attitude of the group the shuffling of feet the murmurs the looks spoke of a growing chagrin and embarrassment such as had marked tonys faltering gaze stranger in this country yes me abby youve heard of old tom belknap 1 I 1 have once some soma of his wrath surging upward to mingle with high curiosity well hes evident almin to run the richards company here off the earth hes done a plenty but the last thing he thought up was to bring a hand band named baxter from kampfert Kam john frowning followed the mans matter of fact words closely he spoke as one sure of himself even as one reciting common knowledge this baxters a tough customer lie he mixed it with our woods boss last week tossed him off a car nd ind broke his bis hip bill tonight he was advertised to come over here nd ind clean out the town sing single le handed makes us pretty hot voice rising a trifle abeln that old belknap only wants to close us down sos he can buy so methin for little or we done what likely do for the on outfit tilt that hired yo yom nd ind you yi knew was fair nd ind square nd ind in a jackpot jack pot only we done in n error A grim little man he be was but had bad spoken with a fine spirit of loyalty he now added im sorry tiny here sure ought to be awful sorry and I 1 guess everybody else feels like we do I 1 hope chum the feell ns aint too hard they stilled as a group will when an answer to an important question la Is due why no I 1 see how tt it Is john said but binn blankly kly mistaken for his fathers hired bully I 1 and old tom trying to run this other company into a corner old tom mixing it as perhaps an even older belknap had done in the pine days was that a possible explanation of why he young john had been so carefully kept away from Kani Nam were things transpiring in this country of which his father was ashamed like a white hot thread the thought seared through his consciousness if a fight was on here waged by his father against a weaker competitor now might that not offer a greater vent a more complete relief for his swelling resentment than bashing strangers with his flats until this moment his only possible vengeance on his father had been to run away but now A man came in from outside shouldering through the press beating snow from a scotch cap with his mitten here he said holding it toward john heres your cap I 1 I 1 guess I 1 knocked it off and well you see how it was he was flushed and so evidently contrite that john smiled and when he smiled the tension that had bad been on those men relaxed the presentation of that cap was equivalent to a treaty gift a token to heal a breach a pledge and seal of friendship I 1 anything we can do for you now after bryin our best ticks licks to do things to you waybill way wat bill asked why I 1 guess not thanks a 8 lot he was finding ills his poise stilling the hot curiosity that might lead him into blunders making up his mind to learn this whole story but to do it adroitly at the proper time it if point out the hotel now it was past the supper hour in shoe strings one public stopping place rex jaspers palace hotel but rex ilex was neither inhospitable nor unmindful of the dimes no more was lie he an uncommunicative host so he himself spread cold but satisfactory viands on one end of a long table and sat the there re elbows on the oilcloth while his slightly marred but obviously outstanding guest ate and responded well to the questions that john steele belknap identity as yet unknown in shoestring put to him the boy ate slowly gazed much of the time on jaspers face as the man talked and talked and talked it lust just goes to show he said narrowing his watery blue eyes what the concentration of great wealth into the hands of unscrupulous men will cause now did you ever read the history of great american fortunes no said john impatiently but are you sure that this man belknap Is behind all the trouble sure surel the little man bristled with assurance it a vanderbilt that said that the thing a man wanted more than anything else was more the way with this old belknap predatory he la Is of the predatory wealthy I 1 iles hes got the richards compty in a corner and he aint coln to let it out why even his own partner gorbel corbel over here at kampfert Kam Xam cant stop him gorbel corbel aint so tad bad but belknap gives the orders you cant blame gorbel if a mans coln to exist economically under a capitalist system lies hes got to go with the capitalists aint he now if youve ever read das Kapl tal by karl marx see john shoved shored back his plate and tapped the table with his fork just a minute lets see if got this story right the logging railroad owned by the richards lumber company goes through belknap gorbet gorbel timber the right of way was granted by a man named kampfert Kam Nam who used to own that timber belknap gorbel corbel bought him out and began to operate under the terms of the old contract they can either force the richards company to haul their logs out to a mainline main maln line branch or order them to pull their steel and to tighten this squeeze the belknap camps are making logs tn in such quantities that the mill here cant be safely logged that it right I 1 this old belknap aint ed to have a soft thing he aint the richards mills been gettin by some way god knows how nd ind he sees that he starts gettin rough just like any old feudal barond got rough ile he has his hired help put royce the richards woods boss out of commission which Is awful bal bad you cant log without abood boss and no man tn in his right minds going to tackle a job where on top of having to scratch to make a hes in danger of getting his block knocked off any minute why this old belknap thinks hes a superman or something I 1 guess hes bos been reading nietzsche did you ever read beyond good and evil no well tiow now wriggling closer to the table theres what id call a downright dangerous philosophy you see hut but john belknap leaning back in his chair now gave no heed to landlord jaspers interpretation of philosophical theory after what his father had done to him yesterday young john was ready to believe anything lie he had known of wars waged by old tom against competitors he be had always thought them waged on fair terms but here was a conflict apparently patently ly unfair unwarranted shoestring to a man evidently attested to why this old belknap thinks hes a superman or something its ruthlessness and johns temper drove him headlong into nn an acceptance of that belief headlong and gladly As good as a blow in the mouth lie ile had been kept away from kampfert Kam Nam after heading towards it these years why what reason because nad tom did not want him to know what was going on because he knew that john would have demanded an about face well how would his father like it if he refused to take what was offered if more than that lie he stepped in and aligned himself with an opposition because it gave him a chance to see what he be was wound on and with their backs to the wall this richards outfit whoever and whatever it might be needed a leader fresh blood someone who was not afraid of this giant tom belknap Belkna pI I 1 wheres the richards office john interrupted rising jasper blinked his watery eyes again why its accost from the mill he said shuffling to a window and peering out through the silt of unfrosted glass near the top of the pane yes the Is s a light there now generally generall Is nights this winter snow hall had ceased falling the wind had dropped and the planks of wooden doodan sidewalks deep under hard packed snow snapped and boomed as john traversed the shadows of lumber piles towards the looming hulk of a sawmill and the ligh lighted tea one story building across from it which had been pointed out to him ile he had no definite plan he had considered telling the manager the whole truth and asking for a job that however might not be advisable depended entirely on the type of individual he |
