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He raised his right hand, much as a bear raises its paw; his blunt fingers worked a little and there was a smoldering fire in his dark eyes. Without further protest Sexton opened the safe, counted out the wages due, and took Rondeau's receipt. "Thank you, M'sieur," the woods-boss growled as he swept the coin into his pocket.
"Moira," he said abruptly, approaching the desk where she worked, "your dad is back, and what's more, Bryce Cardigan has let him have his old job as woods-boss. And I'm here to announce that you're not going back to the woods to keep house for him. Understand? Now, look here, Moira. I've shilly-shallied around you for months, protesting my love, and I haven't gotten anywhere.
For all his sixty years, Moira, your confounded parent can still manhandle any man on the pay-roll, and as fast as Dad put in a new woods-boss old Mac drove him off the job. He simply declines to be fired, and Dad's worn out and too tired to bother about his old woods-boss any more. He's been waiting until I should get back." "I know," said Moira wearily.
So we're going to change woods-bosses, and the new woods-boss will not be driven off the job, because I'm going to stay up here a couple of weeks and break him in myself. By the way, is Mac ugly in his cups?" "Thank God, no," she answered fervently. "Drunk or sober, he has never said an unkind word to me." "But how do you manage to get money to clothe yourself?
I'm only one of his many human problems, and he just won't go back on me, for old sake's sake. We played together ten years ago, when he used to spend his vacations at our house in Cardigan's woods, when my father was woods-boss. He's Bryce Cardigan and I I used to work in the kitchen of his logging-camp." "Never mind, Moira. He may love you, even though you do not suspect it.
"Then I suppose we'll have to go down fighting?" "I do not anticipate much of a fight." "You'll get as much as I can give you." "I'm not at all apprehensive." "And I'll begin by running your woods-boss out of the country." "Ah-h!" "You know why, of course those burl panels in your dining room. Rondeau felled a tree in our Valley of the Giants to get that burl for you, Colonel Pennington."
Hence, if Rondeau had superintended the task of felling the tree, it must have been at the behest of a superior; and since a woods-boss acknowledges no superior save the creator of the pay-roll, the recipient of that stolen burl must have been Colonel Pennington. Suddenly he thrilled.
I will not fight dose dirty fight some more. Au revoir, mademoiselle. I go." And without further ado he hung up. "What's this, what's this?" Sexton demanded. "You re going to quit? Nonsense, Rondeau, nonsense!" "I will have my time, M'sieur," said Jules Rondeau. "I go to work for a man. Mebbeso I am not woods-boss for heem, but I work." "You'll have to wait until the Colonel returns, Rondeau."
"With one hand, old man." "Fine business! Well, I guess we'll put in that crossing to-morrow night. The switch-engine will be in the roundhouse at Pennington's mill to-morrow night so we can't steal that; but we can steal the mogul. I'll just send word up to my woods-boss not to have his train loaded when the mogul comes up late to-morrow afternoon to haul it down to our log-landing.
I've heard that name before ah, yes! Dad spoke of him last night. He's Pennington's woods-boss " He paused. An enemy had done this thing and in all the world John Cardigan had but one enemy Colonel Seth Pennington. Had Pennington sent his woods-boss to do this dirty work out of sheer spite? Hardly.
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