Page:Hugh Pendexter--The young timber-cruisers.djvu/140

 “How’d you suppose they first noticed the burn?” Bub slyly asked of Stanley.

“By the stumps and blackened ground, of course,” replied Stanley.

“Wrong, my son,” chuckled Bub. “They first came upon a thicket of grey birch and poplar and knew it covered a burn.”

Stanley looked questioningly at Abner, who nodded between mouthfuls. And Bub continued, “After the burn the birch and poplar was about the only thing that would grow in the soil. Up they come and shade it all over. Then the ground gits moist enough for spruce and up comes the spruce in time.”

“But what about the birch and poplar? Is there room for all?” asked Stanley.

“Birch and poplar grow fast and die quick,” replied Bub. “That’s why nature selects ’em to prepare the ground for the more valuable spruce.”

“What do we do next, Mr. Whitten?” inquired Stanley.

“Always perlite when ye want to learn the company’s secrets,” sniffed Abner, pushing back his tin plate. “But I've no objection to saying we’ll cruise the east cant of Mt. Jim.”

“Can’t what?” asked Stanley.

“He means jog, innocent,” explained Bub.