Page:Hugh Pendexter--The young timber-cruisers.djvu/55

 “You git out of here!” cried the cook, advancing threateningly.

“I’ll wait and see how badly he is hurt,” stoutly replied Stanley, now surprised to find himself no longer afraid. “Bring some water.”

The cook mechanically dipped into a pail and between them Gilvey soon regained his senses. Then with a new burst of rage the cook repeated, “You’re fired. Git! I’ll have no trouble-makers here.”

“I may be fired, as you say, but I am no trouble-maker. That man has abused me from the start. You have laughed at him and encouraged him. If either of us had been killed today the blood would have been on your head,” indignantly accused Stanley.

The cook lowered his tone, but lost none of his insistence, as he said, “You’re through. Git your time. Gilvey may have nagged you a bit too hard. I may have done wrong to laff, but the woods are full of chore boys, while a good second-man is hard to find, and harder to hold. So, git!”

“What’s the matter? Had a raise in pay?” cried Bub as Stanley found him cleaning three rifles back of the office. The query was occasioned by Stanley’s new bearing. He walked