The Blazed Trail

dow, watching his great honest superior as a crafty, dainty cat might watch the blunderings of a St. Bernard. When he spoke, it was with a mockery so subtle as quite to escape

ot enough so to be loud, but sinning as to the trifles of good taste. The t

ng to underrun," said Dyer. "It won

rse for us; but the Company'll stand in on it because

nodded co

dray-haul that Norw

inches of ice will hold a team, and there's more

forty t

fell

r such a crew," he obser

too easy with them. You

reed with in his blame, "there's any amount of potholes; and, then, we've had so much snow the ground ain't really froze underneath.

moral effect of approval or disapproval by those with whom he lived. It amused Dyer to withhold the time

time the men had been relaxing their efforts. They had worked honestly enough, but a

, him or his feelings or his health, he loses interest in working for that man. So a little effort to lighten or expedite his work, a little leniency in excusing the dilatory finishing of a job, a little easing-up under stress of weather, are taken as so many indications of a de

he was inclined to take the line of least resistance when it came to a question of even ordinary diligence. He sought often in his own mind excuses for dereliction in favor of a man who

ned to a semi-apologetic air when they spoke of their connection with the camp. Instead of being honored as one of a series of jobs, this seemed to be consi

by first streak o' day. I recall one mornin' she was pretty cold, an' the boys grumbled some about turnin' out. 'Cold,' says Tim, 'you sons of guns! You got your ch'ice. It may be too cold

oods, and plainly in the eyes of the veterans this experience did not count. It

ould have seemed even more surprising. The lumber-jack will work sixteen, eighteen hours a day, sometimes up to the waist in water full of floating ice; sleep wet on the ground by a little fire; and then next morning will

the season, a number of pines had been felled out on the ice, cut in logs, and left in expectation of ice thick enough to bear the travoy "d

ld for the time of year, the snow, as often happens, had fallen before the temperature. Under the warm white blanket, t

the logging chain fastened to the other; and, behold, a monster lever, whose fulcrum was the ice and whose power was applied by Molly, hitched to the end of the chain. In this simple manner a task was accomplished in five minutes which would have taken a dozen men an hour.

th scarcely a sound, both horses sank through the ice, which bubbled up around them and over their backs in irregular

the ice was strong. Fabian had already seized Molly b

y dat he't!" h

d have been maintained for a good half hour. Molly and Jenny, their soft eyes full of the intelligence of the situation, rested easily in ful

Jenny's headpiece. "What will we'z be doin'?

abian to Henrys, "an' tie h

ng succeeded in making it fast about the gray mare's neck. Fabian intended with this to choke the animal to that peculiar state when sh

ome Hibernian notion that now all was fast, let go of the bit. Jenny's head at once went

hem to approach. Molly, still upheld by Fabian, looked at him piteously with her strange intelligent eyes, holding herself motionless and rigid with complete confidence in this master who had never failed her before. Fabian dug his heels into the ice, but could not hang on. The drown

que at the two unfortuna

t on the ice and stripped the harness. Then they rolled the log from the dray, piled the t

suspicions at rest, the raven advanced, and with eager beak began its dreadful meal. By this time another, which had seen the first one's swoo