as professor
of--well, of Common Sense, by jiminy!"

XX

Bob managed to lose some money in his two years of apprenticeship. That
is to say, the net income from the small operations under his charge was
somewhat less than it would have been under Welton's supervision. Even
at that, the balance sheet showed a profit. This was probably due more
to the perfection of the organization than to any great ability on Bob's
part. Nevertheless, he exercised a real control over the firm's
destinies, and in one or two instances of sudden crisis threw its
energies definitely into channels of his own choosing. Especially was
this true in dealing with the riverman's arch-enemy, the mossback.

The mossback follows the axe. When the timber is cut, naturally the land
remains. Either the company must pay taxes on it, sell it, or allow it
to revert to the state. It may be very good land, but it is encumbered
with old slashing, probably much of it needs drainage, a stubborn
second-growth of scrub oak or red willows has already usurped the soil,
and above all it is isolated. Far from the cities, far from the
railroad, far even from the crossroad's general store, it is further cut
off by the necessity of traversing atrocious and--in the wet
season--bottomless roads to even the nearest neighbour. Naturally, then,
in seeking purchasers for this cut-over land, the Company must address
itself to a certain limited class. For, if a man has money, he will buy
him a cleared farm in a settled country. The mossback pays in pennies
and gives a mortgage. Then he addresses himself to clearing the land. It
follows that he is poverty-stricken, lives frugally and is very
tenacious of what property rights he may be able to coax or wring from
a hard wilderness. He dwells in a shack, works in a swamp, and sees no
farther than the rail fence he has split out to surround his farm.

Thus, while he possesses many of the sturdy pioneer virtues, he becomes
by necessity the direct antithesis to the riverman. The purchase of a
bit of harness, a vehicle, a necessary tool or implement is a matter of
close economy, long figuring, and much work. Interest on the mortgage
must be paid. And what can a backwoods farm produce worth money? And
where can it find a market? Very little; and very far. A man must "play
close to his chest" in order to accomplish that plain, primary, simple
duty of making both ends meet. The extreme of this virtue means a
defect, of course; i