forest monarchs; the "sawyers," who cut their prostrate forms into
convenient lengths; the "scorers," who stripped off the branches and slab
sides from tree trunks set apart for square timber; and finally, the
"hewer," who with his huge, broad axe made square the "stick," as the
great piece of timber is called.

All these men had to be fed three times a day, and almost insatiable were
their appetites, as poor Frank had no chance to forget. Happily they did
not demand the same variety in their bill of fare as do the guests at a
metropolitan hotel. Pork and beans, bread and tea, these were the staple
items. Anything else was regarded as an "extra." A rather monotonous
diet, undoubtedly; but it would not be easy to prescribe a better one for
men working twelve hours a day, in the open air, through the still,
steady cold of a Canadian winter in the backwoods.

At noon the hungry toilers trooped back for dinner, which they devoured
in ravenous haste that there might be as much as possible left of the
hour for a lounge upon the bunk, with pipe in mouth, in luxurious
idleness. Then as the dusk gathered they appeared once more, this time
for the night, and disposed to eat their supper with much more decorous
slowness. Supper over, the snow-soaked mittens and stockings hung about
the fire to dry, and pipes put in full blast, they were ready for song,
story, or dance, until bed time.

Thus day followed day, until Frank, whose work kept him closely confined
to the camp, grew so weary of it that he was on the verge of heartily
repenting that he had ever consented to be a chore-boy, ever thought that
was the only condition upon which he could gratify his longing for a
lumberman's life, when another mischance became his good fortune, and he
was unexpectedly relieved of a large part of his tiresome duties. This