Adventure Magazine Cover — page 75: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

_ answer. The Rider figured just which logs would have to be eased out of the pile before the jam would give way. It was a ticklish job, one that required plenty of nerve as well as strength and skill. Satisfied that he had a plan of action that would clear the creek, McKendrick sat down on the jam and waited. It was no task to be performed without an audience. . Also he _ wanted to display his skill for the benefit of | Jules, the foreman. In a few minutes another river-man ap- peared. McKendrick sent him back up the creek to bring Jules and the others. “Jimmy, tell that frog to come a-runnin beaucoup toot sweet! He'll know what I mean!” In about a quarter of an hour the rest of the river-gang arrived on the run. The foreman, Jules, was one of the first to reach the jam. “Sacré bleu! Thees ees no tam to seet aroun’! Why een —— you don’ break heem up?” he roared at McKendrick. McKendrick got up and carefully picked his way toward the foreman. “I’m kinda stuck, perfessor. Mebbe you could tell us just how this little job ought to be done.” He rubbed his hand over his mouth to hold back a smile and winked in the direction of the others. But if he thought the foreman would be nonplussed he received a jolt. “Certainement, m’sieu,” came the ready Jules picked up a peavy and clambered over the jam. He went hopping from log to log with the air of one who knows exactly what he is about. McKendrick, his face still covered with a broad grin, watched the foreman’s ef- forts. And as he watched, the grin slowly gave place to a sullen scowl. Not one of the men had offered to help Jules. Nor had he asked for help. He went at the work of freeing the jam just as McKendrick had planned to free it himself. The foreman would ease a log, pry it loose from its fellows, then with a vicious shove send it scurrying away down the flume. For half an hour he bent over the task and as each log was detached from the tangle, the butt of the big up-ended timber was lifted higher and higher by the logs still coming down from up above. Then there was a significant rumble. The whole mass swayed. ‘The watchers on the bank grew tense. Jules Sprang for the big 5 > ~ on the Log 65 timber and went up it like a grind-organ monkey just as the jam gave a mighty lurch. The big log stood straight in the air with the foreman clinging to the very top, while the jam, a roaring avalanche of logs, swept into the flumes on either side. For another moment the giant timber seemed to hang in mid-air. The men on the banks yelled frantic ad- vice to:Jules. Then the big log went crash- ing over. Still the foreman clung to it, clung to it until the watchers thought he would be crushed in the grinding enrush that was being hurled down the flumes. Just as the big log plunged down in a moun- tain of spray, Jules made a flying leap, struck a whirling log, held a precarious bal- ance for a moment, then leaped again and found firm footing on the big one as it rose in the boiling flume. It had been a circus performance and Jules turned to wave a flaunting hand at McKendrick on the bank. No one doubted his ability after that. If the men had no raillery for McKend- rick, it was because they feared the cense- quences that were sure to follow such a pro- cedure. He was sulien throughout the re- maining days of the drive. There were hushed murmurs about the shanty at night. “Old Mac’s goin’ to fix that freg’s stew. Wait’ll he gets a dose of that Algoma fire- water down his gullet.” The shanty leoked forward to the fight as a foregone cenclu- sion. Not a few of the men made bets on the probable outcome of it and Jules was not without backers. When'finally it did come off it was memorable. : They still talk about that fight dewn at the Algoma. But mere’ mention of it is tabu at Crozier’s. fe] had begun many another. Cro- U zier’s outfit was lifting the Algema roof. There had been half a dozen minor affrays. Winter’s bad blood was ceming into its own. Then Jules entered, looked around the riotous room, picked out a table in the cor- ner and sat down alone. McKendrick spotted him and in that in- stant saw red. “Let’s see if the —— frog has got nerve enough to fight!’ He picked up an empty bottle and, taking careful aim, sent it crashing in a thousand McKENDRICK began it as he GEomichbooks (E@)