AMONG THE REDWOODS.

Patea Mail, Volume IX, Issue 1111, 12 November 1883, Page 4

AMONG THE REDWOODS.

LITE 11A TiJJ.R B|.

Bv Bert L.. '.Thompson, I It was in,the country of the rethrows that stupendous growth, which b?>s won *a 5 Wffd’lVas pot heard of the miin; who bnilt his hop sc and barn and.Jenccd in a two-acre 'lot from the; product of. one gigantic; tree, of the filled wit hj shinglesimade from another,Lof thd mile of railway ties furnished by a third ? m The fame of that unexampled paradise of- dnnibernteh had bronght Bryce Renfrew all, the way'from. - Maine to. invest in the business, with a partner who had more capital, but less practical knowledge of its requirements. ■! They h-nl procured a site for their mill at the month of one of those shallow, tmlnletil little rivers which pierce I lie ’rocky’' at frequent intervals, and., were doing well, until one ■ Jules iCraycrolt started a rival .mill within a few miles of:them. - ; j { Graycrofi had not chos-n a waterconrse. for his site,-and .at first, thonglil it wonld nppear tldi'l dte was placed at a disadvantace, but he kept his teams at work drawing in the during the when' i lie Inin her drug bees could drop anchor in comparative safety nnd'T the bluff, and while Renfrew and H-iyden’s-mill stood Idle, while their logs accumulated and they waited for the ‘ rise’ neccasafj:lo;fl ml .them down the sh.albov stream, Craycroft was securing the-.orders which they had hoped to obtain. ~; ; , - j But at• Jiist-the ;long drought gave premise of breaking up. A leaden-gray sky spread over the forest. There had been rlfiti up the mountains already, nn 'l the river, and the liver had swollen oyer the ro- ky points of its b ’d, and rushed iii jo; froll)i ng. : coffec-co'oti red current towanl the sea. All was life and excitement - :id the logging : camp, : but' in the midst of the cheerful hustle came one of the frequent accidents which attend the adventurous life of the lumberman. An az»i glanced, flew from its haft, and 'buried its df in the shoulder of one of the choppers, who W'-nt down under the blow, with the ted blood spurting from the ugly wound. * It’s all np with me, I reckon,’ he said, ns his companions gathered about him, ‘ I—wish, ihongh, that death had

■ druv the slake fay. It’s, ft hard on a man.as on a tree lobe lield on a strain jest,by a io\v, fibres what’s bound to give w:>y soon.’, • Not when holding on will bring yon back to your feet again/ said Renfrew, : ’who had been hpjiiyihg a rude compress to the wpnndl ‘ You’ll drive many a slake yet, Ned. Keep up.:,your heart, man. It may .take a better surgeon . than me to pnll yon through, but /yon shan’t die for want of him. I’m off for the doctor, boys; see that the work goes bnp will yon ?’ They promised readily. It was a l'|nbghsrbrmpnb act Tor ‘ the boss’ to jeaye 1 his.dnjties.at that critical time,and they Were determined that he should not be oi loser by it. .... ;? 4lolfGtm4ionr Inter Renfrew was riding at break-neck speed over the trail to the coast. It : brought him into sight of the river more than once, and his pulses thrilled to see the current charged ‘ :with‘the floating logs; which the men -had been launching nil that morning. Another ,torn, however, brought an unwelcome sight to dus gaz-*. The logs had gorged, and : the, twisted channel was piled high ..with the blockaded freight. -With- an exclamation of blank disappointment Renfrew reigned in his horse. 1 n Just ! below- him the river narrowed 'p a mere pass between the; rocky Walls, and in this passage swung ‘ and twisted the key log of the jam. It looked as if an. effort might turn it loose, and release the timbers which yrere held above. ~v v- > ■ u v j He sprang from .his horse, scrambled down the bank, .and made bis way oi|t M>ver itho;: bumping logs: to the point he had in view. He hadt picked tip a pole which he used as a pry, but it took only n few niihtites’ work to assure him that |lheir;;key Irig; ;wnsj much more securely fastened than he had.at first supposed. The mass of timber behind was spread out in the, shape of a triangle, while it was !r capgbt in the apex, and held, there as if in the Jaws of a vice. His utmost efforts,failed to release it, and he was forced to relinquish the trial at last. .Dropping-,the pole, be stood upright, wiping the perspiration from his face, when a rush, and a roar which had been dimly apparent to him, broke with renewed force upon his ear. He looked up, expecting to see thie tree tops writhing in a strong wind, but they were almost preternaturally still. ; The clouds had-gathered in a thick, black mass overhead, but the breath-

lessness which precedes ' the‘-storm was unbroken. ;; . r ; 1 ' He; knew- then what was coming and turned to face it, dropping down upon the key log, and clasping it with bis arms—none too soon. A wall of water, which filled tlio channel from side to side, and towered high above him, swept down upon the gorge, and broke upon the mass of \ycdged timber, which was lifted and thrown forward by its resistless force. Renfrew came up from the sudden plunge, stiil clinging to his log, with the grating and grinding and bumping of the other logs sounding horribly threatening in bis ears—came up to find himself afloat on that sudden flood. At the same moment a fork of light-

ning darted down and played luridly over the landscape, and when it was ' withdrawn the rain burst forth, the thunder peeled, the now seething torrent was lashed to madder fury by the shrieking gusts. Bryce was chilled to the bone. He was in constant danger of being crushed against the rocky walls or between the floating logs, in constant danger of losing his hold when his particular log rolled, as it did more than once, to submerge him in the stream. (To he continued.)