Two Young Lumbermen by Edward Stratemeyer

The hoarse whistle of the mill, proclaiming the noon hour, sounded out fully half a minute, and when it ceased the machinery in the mill also came to a stop, and men and boys poured forth to get their dinner. Some went to their homes, or to their boarding-places, while others, who lived at a distance and had brought their dinner with them, sought shady and cool spots along the bank of the stream.

Dale did not quit work instantly, as Philip Sommers had done. He, too, was carrying a board, and this he placed on a pile a hundred feet away, as originally intended. Then he straightened out the whole pile of boards, work that took another five minutes of his time.

"Hullo, Bradford, working overtime? " cried one of the mill hands, who had quit at the first sound of the whistle.

"Sure," answered Dale pleasantly.

"Of course the old man is going to pay you double wages for it."

"Guess he will -- if I ask him."

"You won't get a cent. Better stop and make the job last."

"I'll stop, now I have finished," answered Dale, and walked away with a quiet smile.

Although neither Dale nor the other workman knew it, John Larson overheard the conversation.

"Young Bradford is a good one," he murmured. "Just as good as his father was before him. Hang such men as Felton, who are always looking at their watches or waiting for the whistle to blow."

It soon became noised around among the workmen that their employer had been unable to obtain the logs he had sent for, and that evening, after the mill had shut down, a number of them waited on John Larson and asked him about the prospects. He was frank and told them what he had told Dale.

"I expected to keep going all summer," he said. "But I can't do it, and after this week I'm afraid you'll have to look for other openings."

As a consequence of this talk several of the men that very evening rowed over to the mill opposite, while some went down to the mills on the Penobscot. A few obtained other situations and left John Larson's employ the next day, but the majority came back from their quests unsuccessful.

By Saturday noon the big circular saws had cut up the last of the logs, and two hours later the men at the shingle machine also stopped work. Then ensued several hours of sorting out and clearing up, and by five o'clock the hands of the Enterprise Lumber Mill were paid off and told that when they should be wanted again they would be notified.

Dale had been asked by John Larson to remain after the others, and he did so.

"I told you I'd keep you another week," said the mill owner. "There is not a great deal to do, and you can come around every morning at six o'clock and work until twelve, and then have the rest of the day in which to hunt up another job. On Saturday I'll pay you for a full week."

This was certainly very fair, and Dale thanked his employer heartily for his kindness. Yet the youth's heart was heavy, for he knew that finding another opening would not be easy.

"I'll tell you what to do, Dale," said Frank Martinson, the man with whom he boarded. "You try down to Crocker's and over to Odell's. Tell 'em I sent you. They'll give you a job if they have anything at all to do."

"All right, I will," answered the young lumberman.

Crocker's mill was located down on the Penobscot. It was a new place, filled with the latest of machinery, and employing over half a hundred hands. Dale visited it on Monday afternoon, going down on a small lumber raft that happened to be passing.