what he had dimly perceived before, that for the man who buys timber,
and logs it well, a sure future is waiting. And in this camp he was
beginning to learn from failure the conditions of success.



Chapter IX


They finished cutting on section seventeen during Thorpe's second
week. It became necessary to begin on section fourteen, which lay
two miles to the east. In that direction the character of the
country changed somewhat.

The pine there grew thick on isolated "islands" of not more than
an acre or so in extent,--little knolls rising from the level of a
marsh. In ordinary conditions nothing would have been easier than
to have ploughed roads across the frozen surface of this marsh. The
peculiar state of the weather interposed tremendous difficulties.

The early part of autumn had been characterized by a heavy snow-
fall immediately after a series of mild days. A warm blanket of
some thickness thus overlaid the earth, effectually preventing the
freezing which subsequent cold weather would have caused. All
the season Radway had contended with this condition. Even in the
woods, muddy swamp and spring-holes caused endless difficulty and
necessitated a great deal of "corduroying," or the laying of poles
side by side to form an artificial bottom. Here in the open some
six inches of water and unlimited mud awaited the first horse that
should break through the layer of snow and thin ice. Between each