Page:Jim of the Hills.djvu/22

12 Oh, it's: Hey, boys! Shake her up! Twenty logs to get! The tail-rope's fouled a saplin' an' the boss is in a sweat. He's swearin' like a trooper, for they're falling grubby wood; The boy has broke the whistle-string, which isn't for his good. But it's: Ho, boys! Slog along! Watch her when she goes! An' ringin' down the gully runs the echo of the blows.

High above us, on the hill-top, where the tall trees rake the sky, The cockatoos are craaking and the crimson parrots cry. From below us, where the sawdust by the mill is gleamin' brown. Comes the dronin' of the twin-saws while the boys are breakin' down. An' it's: Ho, boys! Let her go! Watch her, how she sways! An' the loggin' truck goes lurchin' down the crazy wooden ways. With the driver at the brake-rope—Oh, that truckie has a nerve! An' he howls a merry "Hoop-la !" as she swings around a curve. Then it's: Hey, boys! Plug ahead! Feed the greedy mill! We have fed her logs in dozens, but she's shriekin' for 'em still.