Page:Hugh Pendexter--The young timber-cruisers.djvu/66

 anxious to go with you and see the work at the beginning. Wouldn’t you like to have me along, Bub?”

The note of entreaty affected Bub keenly and he cried, “I’d be awfully pleased if you was one of us. But, honest, Stanley, Ab Whitten is a most peculiar man and he’d never consent, or I would have asked him before this.”

Stanley’s face became downcast. “When do you start?” he asked.

Bub dropped his eyes and tried to speak indifferently as he replied, “To-morrow.”

“So soon,” sighed Stanley. “Where are you bound for?”

Bub’s eyes brightened as he replied, “I don’t know, but it’s something big. We’re taking three rifles and flatten wants to see Abner to-night for a last talk. I suspect that Jim Nace and his gang has been up to something pretty stiff.”

“Who’s Nace?” inquired Stanley, now deeply interested at the hint of a hazardous undertaking.

“He’s the worst timber pirate in the State. He’s not satisfied with letting out jobs to small operators and then beating ’em out of their money, but it’s believed he’s stolen millions of spruce and pine during the last thirty