THE SPECTRE OF DEFEAT
So Tom worked on alone. He made his headquarters on the hill now, seldom
going down into the main body of the camp, and worked each day from
sunrise until it was too dark to see. Then he would build himself a
camp-fire and cook his simple meal of beans and coffee and toasted
crackers, and turn in early.
Every log for this last cabin had to be felled and trimmed of its
branches, and hauled singly up the hillside by means of the rope and
pulleys. Then it had to be notched and rolled into place, which was not
easy after the structure was two or three tiers high.
Building a log cabin is essentially a work for two. The logs which
flanked the doorway and the window had to be cut to special lengths.
The rough casings he made at night, after the more strenuous work of the
day was done, and this labor he performed by the light of a single
railroad lantern. The work of building the first two cabins had been
largely that of fitting together timbers already cut, and adjusting old
broken casings, but he was now in the midst of such a task as confronted
the indomitable woodsmen of old and he strove on with dogged
perseverance. Often, after a day's work which left him utterly exhausted
and throbbing in every muscle, he saw only one more log in place, as the
result of his laborious striving.
Thus a week passed, and almost two, and Jeb Rushmore did not return, and
Tom knew that the next Saturday would bring the first arrivals. Not that
he cared so much for that, but he did not see his way clear to finishing
his task by the first of August, and the consciousness of impending
defeat weighed heavily upon him. He must not be caught there with his
saw and axe by the scouts who had repudiated him and who believed him a
deserter and a liar.
He now worked late into the night; the straining of the taut ropes and
the creaking of the pulleys might have been heard at the lake's edge as
he applied the multiple power of leverage against some stubborn log and
hauled it up the slope. Then he would notch and trim it, and in the
morning, when his lame and throbbing arm was rested and his shoulder
less sore after its night's respite, he would lift one end of it and
then the other on his shoulder and so, with many unavailing trials
finally get it lodged in place. He could not get comfortable when he
slept at night, because of his sore shoulders. They tormented him with a
kind of smarting anguish. And still Uncle Jeb did not return.
At last, one night, that indomitable spirit which had refused to
recognize his ebbing strength, showed signs of giving way. He had been
trying to raise a log into place and its pressure on his bruised
shoulder caused him excruciating pain. He got his sleeping blanket out
of the cabin which he occupied and laid it, folded, on his shoulder, but
his weary frame gave way under the burden and he staggered and fell.
When he was able to pull himself together, he gathered a few shavings
and built a little pyramid of sticks over them, and piling some larger
pieces close by, kindled a blaze, then spreading his blanket on the
ground, sat down and watched the mounting tongues of flame. Every bone
in his body ached. He was too tired to eat, even to sleep; and he could
find no comfort in the cabin bunk. Here, at least, were cheerfulness and
warmth. He drew as close to the fire as was safe, for he fancied that
the heat soothed the pain in his arm and shoulders. And the cheerful
crackling of the blaze made the fire seem like a companion....
And then a strange thing happened.