One night as he was trying desperately to invent a tolerable lie about fish he remembered a story of a whale that he had heard his grandfather tell, insisting that it was the gospel truth. It was the old story about Jonah and the whale, and the loggers had never heard it. They became indignant when Shanty Boy repeated it for the plain truth, and some of them began to shout at him. For the first time in his life he got stage fright. He felt that he was telling the gospel truth, but the memory of his previous lies overwhelmed him. He tried vainly to continue his narrative about Jonah’s life in the whale’s belly, but his tongue failed. He dropped his head, and he fixed a shamed gaze on his feet. First he heard nothing but the pounding of his heart; then an angry mutter ran along the bunks. It grew into a fierce growl. Then Shanty Boy heard the tramp of feet, and he looked up to see Mark Beaucoup and the bunkhouse cranks advancing upon him.
“She’s lie!” yelled Mark Beaucoup. “Sacre! but she’s tell a beeg wan.”
He shook a huge brown fist under Shanty Boy’s nose.
“Now you are feex yourself. Stan’ up w’ile I knock you down!”
The loggers left their bunks and made a pressing crowd around their discomfited bard and his challenger.
“I was coun’ for you stan’ up. Wan—two—t’ree——”
Then Shanty Boy remembered Paul Bunyan’s “All complaints must be lodged with me” and courage returned to him.
“You bunkhouse cranks shore give me a misery,” he said contemptuously. “You jest go an’ tell my story to ol’ Paul an’ see what he says about it.”
The loggers stared at him with amazement.
“By gar!” exclaimed Mark Beaucoup. “De fool wan’ me tell dees to ol’ Paul! She’s wan’ me tell dees, dat crazy t’ing!”