CHAPTER XXVI
IN AN OREGON FOREST
"What do you think of Mr. Balasco?" asked Dale of Owen, after they had left the office of the lumber company.
"To tell the truth, I don't think I am going to like him," was Owen's slow answer. "There is a certain something about him that grates on a fellow, but what it is I can't explain."
"I think he has a very good opinion of himself," came bluntly from Dale. "No doubt he thinks he is the whole show, as the saying goes."
"He is certainly a different man from Mr. Wilbur. How the two came to be partners is a mystery to me."
"Perhaps they got together before they met—I mean, got into the company together."
"That may be so. And, besides, Mr. Balasco may put on a different front when he meets Mr. Wilbur."
The two had been told to make themselves at home around the camp, and had been introduced to one of the foremen, Pelham by name, and to several others. Pelham told them where they could sleep that night, and also told the cook at one of the dining halls he should provide them with meals.
Both of the young lumbermen were anxious to see how work was done in this district that was so new and novel to them, and they eagerly accepted the invitation of one of the trainmen to go to an upper yard.