MORE GOOD LUCK
“Are such riggings very expensive?” inquired Ted of the foreman, after they had watched the donkey pay out cables and haul in and load other logs.
“That depends on your idea of expense,” returned Steve. “The cables alone are worth close to a thousand dollars for each engine and the en—”
“You need not say any more,” broke in the boy. “We couldn’t even buy the cables.”
“Why should you want to? Think of starting in the logging business?”
“Hardly, but we are going to take up a homestead and, as we shall be obliged to clear it, I wondered how much a rigging like this would cost.”
The announcement of the boys’ purpose surprised and interested Steve.
“You don’t say!” he exclaimed. “Ever had any experience farming?”
“No.”
“Then, if I were you, I’d tackle something else. It’s no easy job clearing land, and when you’ve got it cleared, like as not the soil will be so dry you’ll have to irrigate it. I’ve seen a lot of farmers, good ones too, who came out here thinking they’d get rich in a few years. But when they found there was a mighty sight of difference between doing and thinking, before the time came when they could ‘commute,’ they’d quit.”