“Isn’t that just a trifle hasty, Mr. Barrows?” cut in Garry.
“Listen, my boy. With all due respect to the son of my employer, I must say that I am manager of this camp, and what I say goes. You know I am protecting your father’s business, and there has been so much funny business going on lately that something must be done, and I am going to begin by cutting out all the suspicious characters. In my judgment Collins is such a character.”
“Huh,” muttered Dick in an undertone. “A fine protector you are, and you know that Collins is innocent. He knows too much, that’s all.”
Old Collins marched out of the mill section and started toward the office. A moment later Dick unobtrusively followed him. In a few seconds he had caught up with the man and said goodbye to him.
“Goodbye, my lad, and let me give you a warning. Tell your pal that his father’s business is going to pot here. There’s something underfoot, I don’t know what it is or why, but it’s there. Too many accidents. You watch that Barrows and watch the timekeeper, and keep an eye on the two drivers with the moustaches. Throw in the cookee for good measure, and you’ll have a precious lot of rascals.”
Dick tried to elicit further information, but found that the old fellow either did not know anything specific, or was crotchety and would not tell.
There being nothing that could be done further, the manager and Dick returned to the office, while Garry went to the bunkhouse to see if he could render any aid to the man who had been cut by the flying particles of the saw.
At the office they found waiting their acquaintance of the attempted holdup, Arthur Howells. He acted according to the agreement and waited till they had been introduced.
“This is our scaler and cruiser,” announced Barrows.
Upon the boys professing ignorance of what the duties of a scaler were, they received an invitation from Howells to come with him after dinner and watch the operations. Barrows heartily advised the boys to go with him and learn something of the way in which the trees were spotted and the lumber measured.