Chapter 106

I sat down and got Argent's attention at once. When I sent him my list he asked if I was going to get started on the sawmill, so I explained it would be a kind of experiment for handling the timber, but what we took this time would be for firewood. He wanted to go ahead and send the log hauling wagon they had come up with, but I told him we didn't need it yet and we planned to bring the logs to camp via the river.

He relented on the wagon, but asked if it would be acceptable for his engineers to watch the process carefully in hopes they could think of simple things they could send to help us. I told him to feel free to make any suggestions they could think of. I also remembered to ask for some long light-duty chain and some rope before I signed off.

He said they had anticipated many of today's needs in hopes of getting the sawmill off the ground and they could have the rest of the things within an hour. I asked him to just put them near the big wagon and tingle me when they were ready.

Barago came back in just after I'd departed Frank. He told me the men were ready and I asked him to postpone our departure for an hour or so since I needed to take care of a few more things here and he agreed and left to tell the men.

I didn't really have shit to do here, I just wanted to give Argent time to send the things I hadn't been able to order yesterday. I tried to get a more detailed plan together in my mind and while I was going over things I realized someone was going to have to teach the men how to sharpen their tools. The women were already into their cooking lessons now so I went to the practice cave to see if I could get a chance with Phil.

I was just in time since Racaato, Daria, and Jatalieta were heading toward Phil as I came in. I begged their indulgence for a few minutes and then asked Argent to send me tools for sharpening the tools he was sending.

He told me they had all ready taken care of it and assured me the things would be on their way soon. I thought back to the Real Soon Now days of vaporware on Earth and hoped he didn't have a Microsoft type definition of soon.

I left Phil to Racaato and his charges then and went into my cave and then the bathroom. I shut myself in one of the shitters and sat on the lid of the toilet, hoping it would seal itself off like it had when I was using it for more pleasant activities. It did and I just made myself comfortable and enjoyed the privacy and the peace and quiet of the sound proof shitter.

I stayed hidden until Argent tingled me, then I went outside and found Barago, asking him to meet me with his crew down at the horse cave.

When I got there I found the star of last night's exciting little show busily tending to the big wagon and hitching the team. He asked if we would need other horses for pulling and I had him send Nadlo and Jonoco to get six more of the Clydesdales to use for skidding. All they would need in the way of tack was a halter, long lead rope, and just enough harness to put a collar on them and attach some chains.

"Where will we get the chains?" Danlo asked.

"There, by the tools for cutting wood and clearing brush," I said, pointing to Argent's latest delivery.

He was surprised, but didn't really say anything about it. The men arrived a few minutes later and I showed them the new tools. They were surprised at the wealth and excited for the chance to see how they were used. It didn't take much to tickle them - they had been overjoyed with the manure forks after all.

Soon everything was loaded and all the horses were ready. They climbed into the wagon, which Danlo was ready to drive. Nadlo and Jonoco walked alongside to make sure they could deal with any fuckups which might befall the draft horses we would be leading. I mounted Red and we took off.

When we'd reached the side stream and crossed the river I dismounted and Barago hopped off the wagon to join me. We walked into the brush and within a hundred yards we were into the woods and the brush was mostly behind us.

He saw what I'd meant about the deadfalls right away. It wasn't as if they were everywhere, but there were plenty. We walked to the nearest one and since Barago was carrying an axe with him he took a swing at it. The ring of the blow told us at once this one was rotten at the base.

"I guess that one is too far gone to be of any use," I said.

"Maybe not, let's check it further up," he said, and then walked up the trunk striking it about every ten feet. Sure enough, about twenty feet up from the stump it sounded solid.

"You see they are often rotten at the base, but then useable farther up. Many times they are only a rotted out shell at the bottom and that is why they have fallen," he said.

I could see he didn't need me to tell him anything about the trees. I suggested we gather the men and let me show them how to use the crosscut saw and he agreed, admitting he was anxious to know himself.

When the men were gathered and had brought the saws into the woods I picked up a crosscut and put Barago on the other end. It only took a few minutes for him to get the general idea. Then I had to teach him not to ride the saw. That's what it is called when the one who isn't pulling at the moment lets the weight of his arms down onto the saw. It doesn't seem like much, but the extra drag on the cutting teeth will wear the other man out quickly.

When we were going good I just let us keep at it until the tree was cut through enough so the gap we had cut closed up on the saw and stopped our progress. I then stopped and let all the men try to pull it with the two sides of the gap pinching it.

Afterward I explained how they should use the wedges and the maul to keep the gap open so they could cut all the way through. Once the tree was cut from the stump and mostly lying flat on the ground it was easy enough to put a small log under the trunk and let gravity reverse the process to keep the gap open.

With the explanations behind us Barago took charge of his detail and my respect for him grew tremendously. He soon had two men scouting and evaluating the deadfalls, three two man teams on the saws cutting the deadfalls from their stumps, and five men with axes and bow saws trimming off limbs - the rest were clearing the brush. Within forty-five minutes he had all his men busily working and involved in the process.

We had decided to try and keep the logs to about thirty foot sections, more or less. Within two hours there were six ready to go. We called the men back and with the help of Danlo I showed them how to use the horses to skid the timber out to the stream and roll it in. A man with a pole on each bank steered the drifting log and we worked it nearly to the river, then tied a chain around one end and had another draft horse start walking upriver pulling the log against the current. It only took a little pole work to keep the logs out of the shallow spots and soon the first log was on its way to camp.

Five of the men went with us as we pulled the log up river. I made sure each one got some time leading the horse and then using the pole to steer the log when it was needed. I knew after a few trips the horses wouldn't need any guidance and one man alone could escort a log up river with only a gee or a haw or a whoa for the horse.

When we got to camp with the log, Daaggo came to greet us and he was excited again. He understood the principle at once, if not the specifics, and he was fascinated. I asked him to get a few of his men to help and we used the horse to pull the log up on the bank. I could tell Daaggo was dying to go see the rest of the process and so I asked him to knock off for today and bring his men with him to check out the operation.

"You will be through with the entrances before too long anyway won't you? If you get done in a few days you and your men could be a big help to Barago with the firewood."

"We will probably be through tomorrow and I think I would like to help with this," Daaggo said.

"I'm sure Barago will be glad for the help."

He gathered his men and a few others who wanted to go check things out and we left for the return trip. There were plenty of logs being held just where the stream joined the river when we got back and Barago was there.

"I think we have gotten ahead of ourselves, John. I shouldn't have put so many logs in the water before you got back, they are getting hard to hold," Barago said, when we got there.