'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 shies as anything I ever saw,"
exclaimed Bill.

"Ah, but Bill, yeh know why she shied 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 space 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 space 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 alway