And so we walked
up all day to about three or four in the afternoon. 'We might see if he's
not in the hut here,' I said, for I'd heard the lumbermen used the place.
Then the Captain wouldn't let me go on with him any farther, but told me
to wait. And he walked up to the hut by himself, and went in. He'd not
been in the place more than a bare couple of minutes, when out he comes,
and the engineer with him. There was a word or so between them--I didn't
hear; then all of a sudden the Captain flings up one arm like that, and
lands out at the engineer, and down he goes. Lord! but he must have felt
it pretty badly. And not content with that, he picks him up and lands out
at him again as hard as before. Then he came back to me and said we'd be
going home."
I grew thoughtful at this. It seemed strange that this porter, a creature
who bore no grudge or ill-will to any one, should leave the engineer up
there at the hut without aid. And he had shown no disapproval in his
telling of the thrashing.
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