ad become bitterly cold. A gray-blackness represented the world outside. He lighted his glass lamp and took a hasty, shivering sponge bath in the crockery basin. Then he felt better in the

nd arose; other men stamped in from

did not recognize having seen the young stranger the day before; but Bob was again conscious of the quick impact of the man's personality, quite out of proportion to his diminutive height and slender build. At the end of ten minutes the men trooped out noisily. Shortly a second whistle blew. At the signal th

urned to the boarding house, and sat down in the main room. The lamps became dimmer. Fin

eeper asked Bob a trifle curiously. "You don't nee

er opened the office door and ushere

shipments and the stock on hand and sawed each day. There's your desk. You'll find time blanks and everything there. The copying press is in the corner. Over here is the tally board," He led the way to a pine bulletin

replie

ch hook represents one of the lumber piles-or rather the location of a lumber

d follow out on this strange map the blocks, str

quality. In that way we know just what we have and where it is. The sealers report to us every day just what has been shipped out,

f errands. Fox came to shake hands and wish him well; he was off on the ten o'clock train. Bob checked over a long invoice of camp supplies; manipulated the copying

untered his old difficulties in the matter of figures. He made no mistakes, but in order to correlate, remember and transfer correctly he was forced to an utterly disproportionate intensity of application. To the tally boar

he supply invoices, verifying the time checks, comparing the tallies with the scalers' reports. So swiftly and accurately did he accomplish this, with so li

mented Bob; "ever

t might be correct; but he was v

tice," said Collins; "always

In spite of Collins's kindly meant reassurances, the iron of doubt had entered his

e said to himself, a little bitterly. He thought a moment. "I guess I'm tired. I must buck up. If Collins