Part 10 (1/2)
min' old Ba'teese,” he said hurriedly; ”he joke when eet is no time.
You worry, huh? So, mebbe, Ba'teese help. There are men at the boarding house.”
”The Blackburn crowd?”
”So. Seven carpenters, and others. They work for Blackburn, who is in Chicago. They are here to build a mill.”
”A mill?” Barry looked up now with new interest. ”Where?”
”Near the lake. The mill, eet will be sawing in a month. The rest, the big plant, eet will take time for that.”
”On Medaine's land then!” But Ba'tiste shook his head.
”No. Eet is on the five acres own' by Jerry Martin. He has been try'
to sell eet for five year. Eet is no good--rocks and rocks--and rocks.
They build eet there.”
”But what can they do on five acres? Where will they get their lumber?”
The trapper shrugged his shoulders.
”Ba'teese on'y know what they tell heem.”
”But surely, there must be some mistake about it. You say they are going to start sawing in a month, and that a bigger plant is going up.
Do you mean a complete outfit,--planers and all that sort of thing?”
”So!”
Houston shook his head.
”For the life of me, I can't see it. In the first place, I have the only timber around here with the exception of Medaine's land, and you say that she doesn't come into that until next year. But they're going to start sawing at this new mill within a month. My timber stretches back from the lake for eight miles; they either will have to go beyond that and truck in the logs for that distance, which would be ruinous as far as profits are concerned, or content themselves with scrub pine and sapling spruce. I don't see what they can make out of that. Isn't that right? All I know about it is from what I've heard. I've never made a cruise of the territory around here. But it's always been my belief that with the exception of the land on the other quarter of the lake--”
”That is all.”
”Then where--”
But again Ba'tiste shrugged his shoulders. Then he pulled long at his grizzled beard, regarding the wolf-dog which sat between his legs, staring up at him.
”Golemar,” came at last. ”There is something strange. Peuff! We shall fin' out, you and me and _mon ami_.” Suddenly he turned.
”M'sieu Thayer, he gone.”
”Gone? You mean he's run away?”
”By gar, no. But he leave hurried. He get a telephone from long distance. Chicago.”
”Then--”
”Ba'teese not know. M'sieu Shuler in the telephone office, he tell me.
Eet is a long call, M'sieu Shuler is curious, and he listen in while they, what-you-say, chew up the rag. Eet is a woman. She say to meet her in Denver. This morning M'sieu Thayer take the train.
_Bon_--good!”