Five Little Starrs in the Canadian Forest Part 5

So the devotion of the old man proved a great boon to Babs, for she soon knew many simple wood-secrets that Mike taught her, as well as being shown the homes of hares, quail, squirrels, and other small denizens of the forests.

One day, Mike went off alone, with his rifle over his shoulder. Babs had to remain indoors that day as she had fallen into a pool of water and had to have all of her clothes dried in the kitchen. That night Mike came into camp with a medium sized deer slung over his back. Everyone was interested in the event and watched Mike hang it up by the legs, while he went to his tiny log hut and brought out a sharp knife. The deer was soon skinned and the meat cut up into steaks and chops which were sent over to the cook. The skin was then prepared, as only an Indian can cure it, and left for a time to season.

"What are you going to do with it, Mike?" asked Don.

But Mike smiled as he shook his head, refusing to tell.

The children insisted, however, and Mike confessed that he intended making a deer-skin suit for Babs to wear out-of-doors.

CHAPTER IV

THE ENGINEER'S a.s.sISTANTS

ONE day, soon after Babs' adventure in the woods, Mr. Starr received a letter from a large machine company at Grand Forks. He read it aloud at the dinner table, thereby making all of the timber men very happy.

"The skidder is on the road, boys," said Mr. Starr.

"She is!"

"When will she git here?"

"Mos' time--we are beginnin' to need her!"

These and many other exclamations greeted his news, and Mr. Starr looked at the date of the postmark to figure out the time they might expect the skidder to arrive at camp.

"The roads are frozen fine and hard now, and there hasn't been any snow except a few flakes now and then, so she ought to get here by tomorrow, I should think," replied Mr. Starr.

"It'll begin to look as if we were workin' some, when the logs begin to move out toward the river," declared the foreman.

"She'll have some logs to haul!" said Mr. Latimer, pleasing the men by the suggested praise of their work.

"What's a skidder, Daddum?" asked Dot.

"Why do you call it a she?" added Don.

While many who heard Don's question, laughed, Mr. Starr tried to explain to the twins what a skidder was and what use it was.

"Then the engineer has to drive her, eh?" asked Don, eagerly looking over at Jim.

"Yes, he has to steer her, watch over her steam works, and keep her from going into the crooked paths of evil," laughed Mr. Latimer.

"She sure does get into evil ways, sometimes," added Jim, laughingly.

"Why, I saw one of 'em once, that was reely possessed with a contrary spirit. She never _would_ go the road she was shown, but allus went down a side track as like a horse that s.h.i.+es as anything I ever saw,"

exclaimed Bill.

"Ah, but Bill, yeh know why she s.h.i.+ed that way!" said Jerry. "She was put together skew-geed an' one side of her was so out of geer that she couldn't run straight even on a macadam road."

"There's everything in puttin' the parts together right, Mr. Starr. Is the fact'ry goin' to send a man down to show us how to gear her up and run her?" asked Jim.

"Yes, indeed. We wouldn't take any chances with such an expensive machine unless a machinist came along to show us what to do in case of emergency."

The next day a caravan hove into sight coming slowly along the new road leading in from the old trail. As the first team came to the road broken out from the timber to the river, some of the lumbermen spied it. They shouted and soon every man that could get away from his job gathered about the interesting machinery. There were four trucks and four horses to each truck. The machinists who came from Grand Forks to put the different parts of the skidder together, jumped down from the driver's seats and shook hands with the bosses.

"Where are you goin' to run her?" asked one of the men of Mr. Latimer.

"We'll begin down near the river, and clear all of that land first; that will give us open s.p.a.ce to pile our logs along the waterfront and at the same time pack the road down harder and harder every trip the teamsters make," said Mr. Latimer.

So, the heavy trucks were taken in upon the new road broken out between the dense pine trees and, after several miles on this road, a halt was called. A small clearing had been made by cutting down all of the timber. Here the skidder would find s.p.a.ce in which to swing her great arms and lift the immense trunks from their resting place over to the low sledge waiting to receive them.

It took all of that day and the greater part of the next to fit the machine up for work. The horses of the party were cared for by the men but extra bunks there were none, for visitors were not expected, so the men had to sleep upon the floors of the offices and school-room. Being city men, it was rather interesting to sleep upon a heap of fresh hemlock boughs and wash in a shed where a long row of basins and towels were provided for the men. But the few days braced them up wonderfully, and they always delighted in telling of the camp where the cook prepared fine meals, and the system and orderliness of the timber men were so good that ladies and children mingled with them as freely as if they were the sons of clergymen. As timber men had the reputation of being everything coa.r.s.e and evil, this story gave an entirely new view of them.

As soon as the parts were together, the experts tried the machine. She soon had steam up in her boilers and, at the signal, one of the men threw out her tackle and a huge pine trunk was lifted as lightly as a feather and carried over and laid parallel with the roadside.

The men stood about in a circle admiring the wonderful machine that seemed almost human in its methods of work; the long arms that reached out in the direction of the fallen tree, the fingers that opened to grip the trunk, the graceful swing of the arm as it carried the log exactly where it was wanted and then opened its hand again to give up the grasp the fingers had on their burden.

"If you had your sledge here by the roadside we could load up a pile in no time and the men could cart them to the river," said one of the experts to Mr. Latimer.

"I figured on that and told several teamsters with sleds to come with us," replied Mr. Latimer.

"She makes the work jump along all right!" ventured the foreman, greatly pleased with the headway he could make.

The machinists remained all that day to watch the men work with "Jumpin'

Jane" as she had been called, and, the following morning, left the camp to return to the city.

The work of cutting, loading and hauling logs went forward with tremendous speed after Jumpin' Jane arrived.

After a week's work the logs began to bank up along the river's edge, while the clearing about the Jumpin' Jane grew into a wide area.

The ladies and children at camp heard stories every night of the experiences of the day and felt sorry that they could not witness some of the adventures. Finally, Mrs. Latimer spoke:

"If it is a fine day tomorrow, why can't we come down to the cutting and see Jumpin' Jane work? We want to see everything worth while."

The next day was cold and clear and the children were bundled up well, while the ladies m.u.f.fled themselves to the ears. Mike was included in the party, and, as usual, had charge of Babs.

The men knew there was to be an observation party, so had work planned that would show off the spectacular part of lumber cutting.

"Ho, there, Jim, can we come up on Jumpin' Jane and help you?" called Don, when he saw his old friend fingering the valves and levers of the engine.

"Pretty soon, mebbe. It's all up to your ma," said Jim.

"Not now, Don; wait until we see how it works," replied Mrs. Starr, catching hold of Don's hand to keep him beside her.

Meantime, the timber men had been running a huge saw through a giant pine tree until the foreman shouted "All Back!"