Our talk ended in my promise to go ashore that night and take a look at it.
Yes, he wanted lumber and the captain's price seemed satisfactory. In addition he wanted some lumber sawed half an inch thick for crating—and more—he would like to have all the sawdust we could save for him. He needed it in some insulating work on a cooler room—so he said.
That night we were to come alongside his wharf and he would have his negroes unload during the night what lumber we had so we would lose no time next morning.
"Oh, yes, I've got lots of niggers to do it," he explained when leaving.
When Hiram heard of the turn things had taken he could hardly contain himself. He acted like a man who had been in a dungeon for months and suddenly caught a glimmer of light. As for myself, I saw only that we were nearing the end of a very unpleasant bit of investigation.
"Be careful, Hiram," I cautioned, "the least bad move will spoil it. This man has a low cunning—hypnotize yourself into thinking it is not of much importance and you have a year to do it. A show of haste will be fatal."
Hiram was quick to see the point and began to grin. I knew he was about ready to jump out of his skin with excitement.
"Do you know," said he, "it is now only a little after two and we have sawed more logs and made more good lumber than we did all day yesterday!" Evidently he was trying to control himself. "The sawyer tells me he must have nice clear logs to make half-inch lumber on Becker's order. I guess I'll spend the afternoon picking them out."
It took longer than we thought to work our way out of the bayou and up to Becker's floating wharf. As soon as we were tied up he came down with a lot of negroes, who began at once to unload the lumber, carrying it piece by piece back near his building operations. Captain Marianna checked it as it left.
Now on the windward side of the plant it was possible to eat. It was a long rambling building, painted the color of a freight car, occasionally rising to two stories; on one end were the posts driven in the ground for a considerable addition.