Hines contemptuously.

"Shut up!" said they. "You're barn-boss. You don't have to be out in th'
cold."

This was true. So Jackson's intervention went for a little worse than
nothing.

"It ain't lak' he has nuttin' besides," went on Baptiste. "He can mak'
de cut in de meedle of de fores'."

"That's right," agreed Bob Stratton, "they's the west half of eight
ain't been cut yet."

So they sent a delegation to Radway. Big Nolan was the spokesman.

"Boss," said he bluntly, "she's too cold to work on them plains to-day.
She's the coldest day we had."

Radway was too old a hand at the business to make any promises on the
spot.

"I'll see, boys," said he.

When the breakfast was over the crew were set to making skidways and
travoy roads on eight. This was a precedent. In time the work on the
plains was grumblingly done in any weather. However, as to this Radway
proved firm enough. He was a good fighter when he knew he was being
imposed on. A man could never cheat or defy him openly without
collecting a little war that left him surprised at the jobber's
belligerency. The doubtful cases, those on the subtle line of
indecision, found him weak. He could be so easily persuaded that he was
in the wrong. At times it even seemed that he was anxious to be proved
at fault, so eager was he to catch fairly the justice of the other man's
attitude. He held his men inexorably and firmly to their work on the
indisputably comfortable days; but gave in often when an able-bodied
woodsman should have seen in the weather no inconvenience, even. As
the days slipped by, however, he tightened the reins. Christmas was
approaching. An easy mathematical computation reduced the question of
completing his contract with Morrison & Daly to a certain weekly quota.
In fact he was surprised at the size of it. He would have to work
diligently and steadily during the rest of the winter.

Having thus a definite task to accomplish in a definite number of days,
Radway grew to be more of a taskmaster. His anxiety as to the completion
of the work overlaid his morbidly sympathetic human interest. Thus
he regained to a small degree the respect of his men. Then he lost it
again.

One morning he came in from a talk with the supply-teamster, and woke
Dyer, who was not yet up.

"I'm going down home for two or three weeks," he announced to Dyer, "you
know my address. You'll have to take charge, and I guess you'd better
let the scaling go. We can get the tall