The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, December 4, 1904, Page 11

THE SAN FRANCISCO SUNDAY CALL. 8. McClure Co. Fourth of July iddle eighties. The and high board side- mber town were filled The perma- e town, dressed in st of its Sunday best, escorted r sweethearts; a dozsen elf tried not to be too smartness; but gre titude was composed of r 4 ds. people. by the hotel, Their heavy by the broad eir sashes or belts, their ghort s stagged” off to leave knee and the d boots”—all these of their class, me were the eath their lt- y askew. In utiny I probably knew, for all at laughing eyes and an ironi- volce drawled 2 look as interested as ng snakes. Am I your long- I replied, “if you all this outfit's head- and ran his losely cropped be explained briefly. together we fol- the river, where ike cormorants on adjacent ch of clear water the crowd sted new friend Rear come down last July celebration. This scratch fer th’ tall tim- night when the e her apart.” n with peavies rolled log of about a foot and & the clear water, rocking back and forth feet from the boom piles. & man ran the length of the ped into the alr and both feet square on one oating log. That end dis- an ankle deep swirl of the other rose suddenly, d the whole timber projected forward e shock, drove headiong to the ddle of the pond. And the man, his rme folded, his knees just bent in the eful, nervous attitude of the circus stood upright like a statue of ameter lay foam A roar approved this feat s Dicky Darrell,” sald my in- Roaring Dick. Watch him.” mean on the log was small, with tiful baunches and shoul- nging baboon arms. striking feature was -brown hair that over- wed & little triangular white face, cented by two reddish-brown quadri- bat served as eyebrows, and rutable chipmunk eyes. he poised erect in the Z the public performer. he began to revolve the nder his feet. The lofty gase, the i arms, the straight supple waist ed not by a hair's breadth; only stepped forward, at first de- ¥, then faster and faster, until 'F log threw a blur of spray a the air. Then suddenly slap! he heavy calks stamped a re- The log came instantaneously ering exactly like some an- 2d been spurred through its bea " I erled. othing!” my companion nybody can bir] a log. k for the first time un- With some appear- he balanced his un- o absolute immobli- hen he turned a somersault. s was Hve rezl thing. My friend ed a wild well of adplause which was ot & a gen A long pike po t out, bit the end of the timber and towed it to the boom pile. Another man stepped on They stood fac- -kneed, alert. Sud- ccord they com- d to birl the log from left to The pace grew hot. Like squir- a cage their feet twin- 1 it became apparent that rrell's opponent was gradually be- forted Imm (hn top of the log. the log with Darrell r denpem:elv he dropped u k to the slant, then at last to the edge and so off o the with a mighty splash. “Clean birled!” commented my friend. One after another a half doz- en rivermen tackled the imperturb- able Dick, but n of them pos- sessed the a ty o on top in the pace he set them. One boy of 18 seemed for a moment to hold his own and managed at least to keep out of the water even wh Darrell’ had ap- parently reached m speed. But that expert n tire welght into two reve of his feet and the young fell forward as abruptly as though been shied over a horse’s head. The crowd was by now getting up- roarious and impatient of volunteer effort to humble Darrell's challenge. It wanted the best and at once. It be- gan, with increasing insistence, to shout a name. “Jimmy Powers!” “Jimmy Powers.” And then by shamefaced bashful- ness, by profane protest, by muttered and comprehensive curses I knew that my companion on the other pile was it vociferated. A dozen men near at hand began to shout. “Here he is1” they cried, “Come on, Jimmy,” “Don’t be a highbanker.” “Hang his hide on the fence.” Jimmy, still red and swearing, suf- fered himself to be pulled from his ele- vation and disappeared in the throng. A moment later I caught his head and shoulders pushing toward the boom piles, and s0 in a moment he stepped warily aboard to face his antagonist. This was evidently no question to be determined by the simplicity of force or the simplic of a child's trick. The two men stood half-crouched, face to face, watching each other narrowly, but making no move. To me they seemed like two wrestlers sparring for an opening. Slowly the log revoiyed way, then slowly the other. It was a mere courtesy of salute. All at once Dick birled three rapid strokes from left to right, as though about to roll aped into the air and landed square with both feet on the othe of the timber. Jimmy Powers f the jar and acknowledged it by the spasmodic jerk with which he coun- terbalanced Darrell's weight. But he was not thrown. As though this daring and hazardous maneuver had opened the combat, both men sprang to life. Sometimes the log ed way, sometimes other. sometimes it jgrked from side to side with the rapidity of light, always a smother of spray and foam. The de- ided spat, spat, spat of the reversing blows from the calked boots sounded like picket firing. The crowd w4 appreciative and par- —for Jimmy Powers. It howled and rose thereby to even higher ent. Then it forgot its man- pers utterly and groaned when it made out that & sudden splash represented its favorite, while the indomitable Dar- rell still trod the quarterdeck as cham- plon birler of the year. 1 must confess that I was as sorry as anybody. I climbed down from my cormorant roost, and picked my way between the alleys of aromatic piled lumber in order to avold the press, and cursed the little gods heartily for un- due partiality in the wrong direction. In this manner I happened on Jimmy Powers himself seated dripping on a board end and examining his bared foot. “I'm sorry,” said I behind him. “How did he do 1t?” He whirled, and I could see that his laughing, boyish face had become sud- denly grim and stern, and that his eyes were ghot with blood. “Oh, it's you, is 1t?"” he growled, dis- paragingly. ““Well, that's how he did it. He held out his foot. Across the in- step and at the base of the toes ran two rows of tiny round punctures from which the blood w=- oosing. 1 looked my inquiry. “He corked me!" Jimmy Powers ex- plained. “Jammed his spikes into me! Stepped on my foot and tripped me, the—" Jimmy Powers certainly could swear. “Why didn’'t you make a kick?” I eried, “That ain't how I do it,” he mut- tered, pulling on his heavy woolen sock. “But no,” I insisted my indignation mounting. “It's an outrage! That crowd. was with you. All you had to do was to say something—" He cut me short. “And give myselr away as a blanked fool—sure Mike. I ought to know Dickey Darrell by this time, and I ought to be big enough to take care of myself.” He stamped his foot into his driver's shoe and took me by the arm, his humor apparently re- stored. No, don’t you lose any hair, bub; I'll get even with Roaring Dick.” That night, having, by the advice of the proprietor, moved my bureau and trunk against the bedroom door [ lay wide awake listening to the taking of the town apart. At each especially viclous crash I wondered if that might be Jimmy Powers getting even with Roaring Dick. . The following year, but a Ilittle earlier in the season, I agaln visited my lumber town. In striking contrast to the life of that other midsummer day were the deserted streets. The landlord knew me, and after I had slant the washed and eaten approached me with a suggestion. *You got all day in front of you.” said he. “Why don't you take a horse e a visit to the 's up there, more In plied: response to my inquiry he re- “They've jammed at the upper bend —jammed bad. The crew’s been pick- ing at her for over a week now, and last night L'ar'e‘]l was down to ses about some more mite. It's worth The br of her is near foot high, and lots of water in seeir I, catching the Do look He's rear boss this year. vou'd like to take a I should,” I assented. breast, as my landlord had told > sheer from the water to the at st twenty-five feet, 1g and formidable. Back of it the volume of logs packed in an apparently inextricable far as the eve could reach. who was near informed me of close man A that the tail was a good three miles up stream. My eye ranged over the men and fi y rested on Dicky Darrell. He was standing on the slanting end of an upheaved log, dominating the scene. His little, triangular face, with the accents of the quadrilateral eye- brows, was pale with the blaze of Rhis energy, and his chipmunk eyes seemed to flame with a dynamite vehemence that caused those on whom their glance fell to jump as though they had been touched with a hot poker. I had heard more of Dicky Darrell since my last visit and was glad of the chance to observe Morrison & Daly's best “driver” at work. The jam seemed on the edge of breaking. After half an hour's ed expectation it seemed still on very edge of breaking. 8o I sat Then for the first another acquainfance handling his peavie near the very per- son of the rear boss. said I to myself, “that's I wonder if Jimmy Powers got , if so, why he is working so y and so near Roaring Dick.” on the men came ashore for I paid a quarter into the coole’s private exchequer, and so was fed. After the meal I approached my acquaintance of the year before: “Hullo, Powers!” I greeted him. “I suppose you don’'t remember me?" “Sure,” he responded heartily. “Ain’t you a little early this year? “No,” I disclaimed, “this is & better sight than a birling match.” I offered him a ciger, which he im- mediately substituted for his corncob pipe. We sat at the root of a tree. “It'll be a great®sight when that jam pulls,” said L “You bet,” he replled; “but she's a teaser. Even old Tim Shearer would have a picnic to make out just where the key logs are. We've started her three times, but she’'s plugged tight every trip. Likely to pull almost any time.” We discussed various topics. Finally I ventured: “1 see your old friend Darrell is rear boss.” “Yes,” sald Jimmy Powers dryly. “By the way, did you fellows ever square up on that birling match?" “No,” sald Jimmy Powers. Then, after an instant: “Not yet.” 1 glanced at him to recognize the square set to the jaw that had im- pressed me so formidably the year be- fore. And again his face relaxed al- most quizzically as he caught sight of mine, “Bub,” sald he, getting to his feet, “those little marks are on my feet yet. And just you tie on:to one’ idea— Dicky Darrell’s got it coming.” His ’m‘ to crush him out of sibht, “WOIAT YOU D/fi l’flE AFIED KW =/IOWz MERVE.” face darkened with a swift anger, and I glimpsed the flare of an undying hate. About 8 o'clock that afterncon Jim- my's prediction was fulfilled. Without the slightest warning the jam “pulled.” Usgally certain premonitory cracks, certain sinkings down, groanings for- ward, grumblings, shruggings and sul- len reluctant shiftings of the logs give opportunity for the men,to assure their safety. The jam itself started with every in- dication 9t meaning business, gained momentum for a hundred feet, and then plugged to a standstill. The “break” was abortive. Now we all had leisure to notice two things. First, the movement had not been of the whote jam, but only of a block or section of it twenty rods or 80 In extent. Thus between the part that had moved and the greater bulk that had not stirred lay a hundred feet of open water} in which floated a num- ber of loose logs. The second fact was that Dicky Dar- rell had fallen into that open stretch of water and was in the act of swimming toward one of the floating logs. ' That much we were given just time to ap- preciate thoroughly. Then the other section of the jam rumbled and began to break. Roaring Dick was caught between two gigantic millstones, mov- HR An active figure darted down the tall of the first section, out over the floating logs, seized Darrell by the coat collar, and so burdened began des- perately to scale the very face of the breaking jam. Never was a more magnificent res- cue. The logs were rolling, falling, diving against the laden man. He climbed as over a treadmill, a treadmill whose speed was constantly increasing. And when he finally gained the top it was as the gap closed, splintering be- neath him and the man he had saved. It is not in the woodsman to be demonstrative at any time, but here was work demanding attention. With- out a pause for breath or congratula- tion they turned to the necessity of the moment. The jam, the whole jam, . was moving at last. Jimmy Powers ran ashore for the peavie. Roaring Dick, lilke a demon incarnate, threw himself into the work. Forty men at- tacked the jJam at a dozen places, en- couraging the movement, twisting aside the timbers that threatened to lock anew, directing a pigmy like the titanic forces into the channel of their efficiency. Roaring like wild cattle the logs swept by, at first slowly, then with the railroad rush of the curbed freshet. Men were everywhere, taking chances like cowboys before the stampeded herd. And so, out of sight around the “lower bend, swept the fromt of the jam in a whirl of glory, the rivermen riding the great brown back of the creature they subdued, until at last, with the slackening current the logs floated by free, caroming with hollow sound, one against the other. A half dozen watchers, leaning statuesquely on the shafts of their peavies, watched the ordered ranks pass by. One by one the spectators departed. At last only myself and a brown faced young man remained. He sat on a stump, staring with sightless eyes into vacancy. I did not venture to dis- turb his thoughts. The sun dipped. A ccol breeze of evening sucked up the river. Over near the cook camp a big fire com- menced to crackle by the drying frames. At dusk the rivermen strag- gled in from the down river trail The brown faced young man arose and went to meet them. I saw him return in close conversation with Jim- my Powers. Before they reached us he had turned away with a gesture of fareweil. Jimmy Powers stood looking after him long after his form had disap- peared and iIndeed, even after the sound of his wheels had died toward town. As I approached the riverman turned to me a face from which th reckless contained self-reliance of the PIID CFVER rm aw' ER I1TE F LO0GS AND JE/ZZO DRRRELL 5% COLLAL wood worker had faded. eyed, with an almost wonder and adoration. “Do you know who that is?” he asked me in a hushed volce., “That's Thorpe —Harry Thorpe. And do you know what he sald to me just now, me? He told me he wanted me to work in Camp One next winter—Thorpe's One. And he told me I was thg first man he ever hired straight into One.” His breath caught with something like a sob. I had heard of the man and of his methods. I knew he had made it a practice of recruiting for his prize camp only tLom the employes of his other camps; that, as Jimmy said, he never “hired straight into One.” I had heard, too, of his reputation among his own and other woodsmen. But this Wwas the first time I had ever come into personal contact with his Influence. It impressed me the more In that I had come to know Jimmy Powers and his kind. “You deserve It, every bit,” sald I. “I'm not going to call you a hero, be- cause that would make you tired. What you did thig afternoon showed nerve. It was a brave act. But it was a better act because you re: ed your enemy, because you “orgot everything our common humanity when dan- ger—" I broke off. Jimmy was again look- ing at me with his ironically quizsical grin. “Bub,” said he, “Iif you're going to hang any stars of Bethlehem on my Christmas tree, just call a halt right here. I didn’t rescue that scalawag be- cause 1 had any Christian sentiments, pary bit. I was just naturally savin’ him for the birling match next Fourth- er July.” It was wide awe stricken