the hotels in the town on the "boundary"[*] were crowded. for several days the men had been returning from the bush after the winter's cut, until over a thousand "lumber-jacks" from the various camps in the immediate vicinity had taken possession of the place. for most of these men the bar-room was the only social centre, and the arrival of each gang meant the recognition of old friends and the celebration thereof in a call for "drinks all round."
[*] boundary line between u.s. and canada.
in a hallway adjoining a popular bar-room the missioner stood sadly watching the procession of hard toilers losing at the one time their winter's earnings and the control of their faculties. it seemed useless to plead with the men either collectively or individually.
"it's the only way we've got to let off steam, boss—it's a fool way, you bet, but here goes." the speaker was a man of not over thirty years of age. with unsteady step he entered the bar-room again, and pushed his way to the double line that kept the bar-tenders perspiring as they sought to respond to the sometimes cursing demands for more rapid service.
1. a western lumber camp. 2. lumber camp group in sunday attire. 3. the day's work ended. 4. a typical bar-room "in some districts fully 75% of shanty men's earnings goes over the bar. one bank paid out 38,000 dollars in wages. within a week a near-by bar-room deposited 22,000 dollars."
1. a western lumber camp. 2. lumber camp group in sunday attire.
3. the day's work ended. 4. a typical bar-room
"in some districts fully 75% of shanty men's earnings goes over the bar. one bank paid out 38,000 dollars in wages. within a week a near-by bar-room deposited 22,000 dollars."
along the hallway were men in various stages of intoxication, and the missioner knew from past experiences that some of the men were only at the beginning of a debauch that would last for several days, perhaps weeks. much had been done by the lumber companies to improve the conditions in camp and to brighten and turn to good account the long winter evenings. then, in order to protect the earnings of the men at paytime, arrangements were made to furnish immediate facilities for banking or for remitting home; yet everything proved ineffective in the case of some. the open bar with its foolish and dangerous treating system had led to what had become known around town as "the lumber-jacks' annual spring spree."
the cashier of one of the companies sauntered through the crowd, and the missioner entered into conversation with him, questioning him about the men thronging the bar-room. "yes, reverend, i know most of the boys; i make out pay-checks for over two hundred of them, and in my time i've run across thousands, and most of them are splendid fellows if you can only keep the booze away from them. they look pretty well damaged just now, eh? and they'll be worse yet. when they get started you can't stop them till they're at the end of their tether. see that fellow lighting his cigar in ern. dean's pipe? wait till he turns round a bit—there! now! his ear's half gone, see? he's some fighter, believe me! a year ago last month somebody got a few bottles of whiskey into the camp on the q.t. we try to keep it out, but you might as well try to keep out mosquitoes in june. well, sir, that night bill got into a fight with a chap called frenchy, and in about ten minutes frenchy needed an identification label on him. bill was clean plump crazy, and as frenchy had been looking for a scrap for weeks the boys let them have their innings for a while. just before the boys prised them apart, the two of them took a deuce of a tumble to the bunkhouse floor, and somehow frenchy got his teeth on bill's ear. we couldn't patch the thing together, so bill had to foot it nearly thirty miles to the nearest town, and you see what the crossbones had to do to trim off his receiving apparatus? bill gets ninety dollars a month—i handed him a check for four hundred and fifty last saturday, and it would be safe to bet the whiskies he hasn't fifty dollars left right this minute. he doesn't know what he's done with it—quite likely a pile of it has been swiped when he was dead to the world. between ourselves, reverend, there's lots of dope served out right here, and when the boys come to, a good part of their boodle is gone. just the other day dick booth was yelling blue murder around here, and bertois came from the office and hooked his arm into dick's and said, 'come on, dick, and have one on me.' in less than five minutes there wasn't so much as a chirp from dick, and he looked like the dickens for a few seconds, and then he slid down the wall to the floor, and bertois and sam carried him into the snake-room. you bet bertois fixed dick's drink alright. the trouble comes between season when the boys are off a few weeks. they come into town to kill time, but it works the other way round."
two days later the missioner was sitting writing at the hotel table when bill, blear-eyed, unshaven and dirty, came staggering toward him. the voice was almost terrifying in its intensity of appeal, "for god's sake give me something to eat; i've had nothing but that stuff (pointing toward the bar-room) for three days."
before anything more could be said, bertois, the proprietor, hurried from behind his desk, and grabbing bill by the shoulder, uttered an oath, and dragged him to a door at the end of the hall. unfastening the door with his latch-key he gave bill a vigorous shove, and the intoxicated man, stumbling over some object, fell heavily to the floor. banging the door, bertois turned to the basement stairway just around the corner, and in a sharp voice called "sam." sam immediately responded to the call.
"how in the —— did bill bird get out of there."
"didn't know 'e was out, sir," was the reply.
"did you give anybody your key?"
"hi did not, sir."
"well, then, you must have left the door unlocked; mind you don't let any more of them d—— fools out."
as calmly as was possible the missioner protested against the treatment bill received.
"what would you do with them? would you want them around the house?" was the gruff reply. "give them a bed? not much! we don't keep beds for that brand. the only thing you can do is to kick 'em into the snake-room. you don't know anything about bill's kind. he's seeing life; them fellows have been counting on this blow-out for months."
an hour or so later the missioner found sam alone in the basement. the old man was worthy of a better job than the doing of the dirtiest and most objectionable work around a lumber-town hotel, but times had gone hard with him of late years, and his few relatives were on the other side of the atlantic.
"no, sir, hit ain't the kind of place hi expected to be in at my hage, but beggars mustn't be choosers, you know, sir, and after hi cut me foot half off with a hax i ad to take wot i could get, especially as me rheumatiz bothered me a lot. wot's the snake-room like, did you say? hit just depends oo's hin it. hit's chuck full these days, i'm sorry to say, and it hain't a sight yer reverence would like to see. you want a peep hin, eh? well, hi don't know as how you'd be allowed; the boss is rather perticlar about who sees 'is customers hin the snake-room. it hain't a very good hadvertisement, hin my opinion."
nevertheless sam agreed, if the territory was clear, to show the missioner the snake-room. by way of apology, the old man explained that he had often told his boss that it was a shame to put men into such a place without any kind of bed, with no food, and frequently, in decidedly cold weather, without any heat.
when the opportunity afforded itself, sam and the missioner went quietly upstairs and, unseen, entered the snake-room. accustomed as he had been to see the effects of alcohol and evil-living, the scene before the visitor was a fresh and terrible revelation of their destructive power.
the room was probably fifteen feet square. its furnishings consisted of one table and two framed pictures—the latter being advertisements of "popular brands of whiskies," which were said to have "stood the test for nearly one hundred years." some results of the test were upon the floor.
in order to get inside, sam had pushed hard against the door, crowding back the feet of the man nearest. there was scarcely more floor space than the two men needed to stand on. curses, snores and groans came from the filthy, stench-laden mass of men that covered the floor. several boards in the wainscotting were spattered with human blood. one man with a recently made gash across his forehead was lying on his side, and with eyes closed, kept striking out with his fist, sometimes hitting the leg of an old man who seemed absolutely paralysed with liquor, and sometimes hitting the partition. every blow was accompanied by profanity.
partly under the table lay two camp cooks. one of them, heinrich lietzmann, was a most generous individual, and a great favourite with his fellow-workers. because of his appearance he was dubbed "roly-poly" lietzmann. his broken english was very attractive, and nothing pleased the younger men better than to "get him going" on international politics. judging from his terribly bruised face, he had either fallen heavily or been in a fight. poor heinrich made several attempts to raise himself to a sitting posture, each time falling back with a disturbing effect on the men nearest him, and receiving therefore their muttered curses, which he returned in full measure.
along the table, on his back, lay chris. rogers. nobody knew the history of chris. although, because of a remarkable gift of speech which he manifested when excited by liquor, the report that he had once been a "shyster lawyer" in a western state was generally believed. he was far above the average lumber-jack in knowledge, but far below in vice. after the discovery of an unusually mean trick, bill bird had, in the opinion of the camp, fittingly described chris, when he said, "that dirty rascal is so near mongrel dog, that if he had a bit more hair on him he'd start running rabbits." just why chris. had been given charge of the camp stores was a mystery, but for nearly two years he had held the position. he was a slender, wiry man with a singularly repulsive face. his teeth were gone, and his long pointed moustache drooped alongside of the hard mouth that was continually stained with tobacco juice. his coat and vest were plastered with grease from careless eating and his whole appearance suggested a dirty demon-possessed man.
bill bird, the fighter, had managed to get into a corner, and was sitting with arms on knees and drooping head—a picture of wretchedness. once he managed to look up, and for a moment gazed in a dazed way at the missioner: "by god! i wish i was dead:" then there was a prolonged cry on the word "oh," as of a man in great agony. a few of the stupefied men roused themselves enough to utter a curse in bill's direction. gazing once more at the missioner, bill cried out: "oh! oh! the devil's got me for sure."
sam laid his hand on the missioner's arm; "we'd better slip out now, sir, or there might be trouble."
with a sigh and a heavy heart the missioner passed into the hall and up to the room he had been occupying for ten days. with a whispered cry, "how long, o lord, how long?" he fell on his knees at his bedside, and then in silence he pleaded with his god that at least bill bird might be released from the grip of the evil one.
after the regular service that night, a few christian people met for prayer. the missioner confided in those present, and with sadness told of his visit with sam to the snake-room. "what are we doing," he asked, "either as a church or as individuals, for these men? has satan any opposition from us as he enslaves our fellow-countrymen? surely it is not a matter of indifference to us when these men are wrecking their own and other lives, in dens of vice that have been allowed to plant themselves in this town, and that can only thrive as manhood and womanhood are debased?
"several lumbermen in this district say that in the past fifteen years there has been a steady deterioration in the men employed in the woods. after every pay-day, by their debauchery, seventy-five per cent. unfit themselves for the work to be done, and take from two to eight weeks to get back to normal condition. there is much that may and must be done along social lines if we are going to arrest these degrading influences, but in the meantime is it not possible for us as individuals to get into personal touch with some of these boys, and throw around them the protection of our christian friendship and hospitality? preaching is not the only means for advancing the kingdom. so much may be done if christian people will put themselves and their possessions at the service of humanity, and learn to love the lowest as well as the best of the race. some of these lumber-jacks might go back to camp changed men if we gave god a fair chance to use us. perhaps some of you business men, or some of you ranchers, could get alongside of at least one poor fellow from that snake-room, and live for his reclamation. there are many ways of keeping in touch with these men, even when they return to the bush, and, in this land of investments, you would find nothing yield such a dividend as the investment of your time in the attractive presentation of the love and power of jesus christ. will you at least make the effort, and leave the results to your master?" the words were spoken and the question asked with an earnestness that had been intensified by the heart-rending appeal of the broken manhood that the speaker knew was represented by what he had looked upon in the snake-room.
in the prayerful atmosphere and the silence that followed the question, one man said in his heart, "i will." that man was george clarke.
george clarke had a small ranch a short distance from the town. he was one of the most industrious men in the province, but his industry had not resulted in the prosperity that most of his neighbours enjoyed. he had met with enough reverses to absolutely dishearten the average man, but he had borne them all bravely, keeping his disposition unsoured, and his character clean. his extreme reticence, however, often led strangers to misjudge him, and to underestimate his worth. in public affairs he treated himself as though he had no right to anything but the most inferior position, and to have given expression to his own opinion before even a small audience would, in his own judgment, have resulted fatally. once, under great pressure, he had consented to pass the collection plate at a church service, but after getting on his feet, "everything was a blur." the boys at the rear vowed that he stumbled against every bench-end but one, and that by the time he was half way down the aisle "he didn't know which side of the plate should be up." in replacing the plate on the organ, to the great surprise of the organist, he unceremoniously deposited most of the offering in her lap, and was too much overcome with embarrassment to assist her in replacing it. during the closing hymn he made his escape to a quiet spot in the bush, where he could wipe his profusely perspiring brow and where he could solemnly promise himself not to be entrapped again. but despite his reticence he was an exceptionally intelligent man, and when any individual could get george to express himself on questions of importance, it was not long before "this is what george clarke thinks," was passed from mouth to mouth throughout the community. all through the years he had resided in the west he had been absolutely upright in his dealings and conduct, and though his reticence prevented him from taking an aggressive part in certain moral reforms that were advocated from time to time, yet there was never a shadow of a doubt as to which side he would be on. the cynical individual who stated that "every man has his price," was compelled to make an exception in the case of george clarke.
and so it will not be deemed irreverent if we say that when george clarke said in his heart "i will," god knew he could trust him.
very thoughtfully george passed, with his wife, from the meeting out into the darkness. "i'm going to look for bill bird, mary, and if i get him i'll bring him home—how would it do if you go on with the frasers?" the suggestion was all that mrs. clarke needed, and her neighbours, without any questioning, cheerfully made room for her in their democrat.
george halted several times on his way to the hotel shed where his horse and buggy had been left—he was wondering how best to carry out his resolve. that resolve was to do his utmost to help bill bird to a new life. years ago in the east he had been on very friendly terms with the bird family, and though he had once or twice tried to show bill a kindness, yet he knew he had not measured up to his opportunities and he felt condemned. quietly he walked down the roadway to the rear of the imperial hotel. the shouts and oaths of the drinking and the drunken, and the clatter of glassware reached his ears as he passed along. was bill still inside, and if so, how could he get hold of him? a side door opened, and george stepped back into the deep shadow of the building. bertois, the proprietor, and some man whom george did not know, came to the step and stood in the light for a moment. then the door was pulled to, and the men stood silent as if listening to assure themselves they were alone. under ordinary circumstances george would have spoken to bertois, but this night he deemed it wiser to remain unobserved. the men conversed in low tones at first, but after a while bertois' words reached him:
"don't play too swift a game for a start: give 'em plenty of bait; they'll keep on biting till we land 'em. we can easily clear five hundred from those three suckers if you watch yourself. dick knows the drinks to dish out. here's for luck! come on."
re-entering they closed the door quietly, and george still waited, hoping that sam would come out, and that the old man might be persuaded to get bill bird into the yard. many times during the next fifteen minutes the door opened, and each time george clarke got, in some form or other, information of the hell that was inside. the hour was late, yet he felt he must remain longer. bill bird was in his keeping, for like those near the blind beggar of old, george had heard the call from the great physician, "bring him hither to me."
to face the crowd of men he knew would be inside the hotel was more than he felt equal to, and he knew that in all probability any attempt to get bill out under such circumstances would fail.
once more the side door opened—this time slowly and unsteadily. a man leaned against the jamb for a few seconds as if needing support. then some one from within slammed the door against him, and he slipped heavily down to the narrow platform. there was a curse and a drunken hiccough, and then the words the missioner had heard were uttered again, "by god, i wish i was dead."
george clarke did not immediately recognize the voice, but he did immediately step near to his needy brother-man, and said sympathetically, "what's the matter, mate?"
taken by surprise the man asked, "who in the —— are you?"
george recognized the voice and the form and said, "i'm george clarke, and i'm your friend, bill bird." his hand was laid upon the shoulder of the sickened man, and in a kindly voice he persuaded him to accompany him to his home. "the place here is crowded, and we've got lots of room at our place and can give you a comfortable bunk for the night: come along, bill, for old time's sake."
linking his arm in bill's, he led the staggering man to the drive-shed, and after some difficulty and a few arguments, got him safely into his buggy, and not a soul in the place was the wiser.
mrs. clarke was a worthy helpmeet for george, and though her household cares were many, she grudged no extra labour that would please her husband and help a fellow-being. and so everything necessary for the comfort of the fallen man had been done. a supper had been prepared, and the guest-room made ready. bill ate as freely as his condition would allow, and then very willingly acted on the suggestion that he should "creep in." george gave the dirty, tired, whiskey-soaked man such assistance as he felt would be advisable. once bill raised his heavy eyelids and appeared to be trying to understand the "why" of things. "this is no place for me, george clarke—by god, no!" the body wobbled wearily, and bill could think and talk no more. and so with most of his clothes on, filthy from his stay in the snake-room, bill bird was placed in the best bed in the best room of one of the truest homes with which the district was blessed.
before retiring himself, george clarke went to a wicker-basket in the parlour, and searched through the family collection of photographs. at last he found the one he sought. it was of the bird family, and was taken shortly before the oldest boys went west. george took it out to his wife, who was still working in the kitchen. pointing to the face of a bright manly boy who stood with hand upon his mother's shoulder, he said to his wife, "if bertois and his gang changed a boy's face as terribly as bill's has been changed, and did it in a few minutes, they would be sent to the 'pen' for five years, and yet we let that same gang take their time on the job, and do it in hundred lots, and scarcely raise so much as a finger to stop it—and i'm as guilty as the rest of them. poor bill! he used to be as decent a little chap as you could find in the county of addington."
the photograph was returned to the parlour, and dropped somewhat carelessly upon the table, but the unthinking, and yet perhaps not unguided act was the first of many influences that brought better days to bill bird.
long into the morning the occupant of the guest-room slept on. george clarke had opened the door quietly at breakfast time, but the heavy breathing caused him to leave the wearied man undisturbed. about the middle of the forenoon, after much yawning and stretching, bill's consciousness slowly returned.
he pushed back the white coverlets and gazed around the room. many times he had awakened in a drive-shed, twice in the police cell, more than once in the "snake-room." but this morning everything was different. what had happened? was he dreaming? the room was the most attractively furnished of any he had slept in for years, and his soiled clothes on the chair at the bedside were strangely out of harmony with the surroundings.
he had confused memories of events since he came out of the camp, but he knew he had spent his money in the way most of his earnings had gone for the last few years, and he condemned himself for having been a fool again. with a half-consciousness of some one being near, he looked to the opposite side of the room.
the bedroom door had been quietly opened and a bright "good-morning" greeted him. there need be no hurry, he was told, but whenever he was ready he might just as well have a bite of breakfast.
no word was spoken in explanation of his presence, nor in regard to the trouble george had had in getting him away from the "imperial" the night before. slowly and with mingled feelings of embarrassment and disgust, bill attempted to clean himself up a little. he knew he was in george clarke's home, and in his own words, "felt like a fool and looked the part to perfection."
it was not easy to face those he knew had befriended him, for sin had not yet lost its shame to bill bird.
his bedroom door opened into the parlour, and he stood alone for a few seconds. then his eyes fell on the old photograph. his hands trembled as he held it and gazed into the faces of mother and brothers and sister. pictures of the old home and of happy family relationships of past years crowded themselves upon his memory.
he remembered how his widowed mother had toiled and struggled to bring up her six boys aright and give them the best equipment possible for the battle of life. he recalled his own setting out from home—from the home to which he had never returned, and to which he had rarely written. the "western fever" had gripped him in his early twenties, and nothing could induce him to stay on the homestead. and so ere long the property had to pass into other hands, because there were no boys left to work the place. the mother's sorrow over the parting with her "willie" had rested very lightly on him the morning he started westward. yet to-day he viewed it in a different light, and he lived the parting over again with very different feelings. the last breakfast had been prepared in silence by the one who had never ceased to love him. more than once she had tried to speak, but the lump in the throat prevented. at last they stood in the hall, and her words were uttered with sobs as she clung to her "baby boy." "good-bye, my willie, and remember, that as long as your mother has breath she will pray every day for her boy, and ask god to take care of him." he had assured her he could take care of himself. he remembered the last flutter of the handkerchief as she stood on the milk-stand watching the buggy disappear from the sideroad on to the "gravel." he had "taken care of himself," and a mighty poor job he had made of it, and there seemed little chance of any improvement.
while he was in the midst of such thoughts, george clarke entered. bill was still holding the photograph. with moistened eyes he looked into the face of his hospitable friend. "george clarke," he commenced, "it takes a man a long time to own up that he has made a botch of things; it's too late now to make a fresh start, but i've been looking at this picture, and god knows i'd like to have as good a character as i had when that was taken. that woman is as good a mother as any boys ever had, and i haven't shown her the gratitude of a dog."
to this day, george clarke feels that he never made a poorer attempt at trying to speak a helpful word to a discouraged man than on the morning when bill bird stood in his little parlour on the old ranch. one result of the conversation, however, was the decision on bill's part to accept the invitation to remain at the clarke ranch for at least a few weeks, and during those weeks he saw demonstrated the best type of christian living with which he had ever come in contact. on several occasions he accompanied george to the hall in which the special services were being held. rather to the surprise of the clarkes, he made no response to the appeals from the missioner, which seemed to them so powerful. one sabbath evening, however, as they sat around the stove, bill expressed himself in such a way as to bring a thrill of joy to the hearts of those who were greatly concerned in seeing him make the "choice of the highest."
"george clarke," said bill, "i haven't taken much stock in religion, but if there's a kind that makes a man do what you and your missus did for me when i wasn't fit company for a pig, i guess i ought to go in for it." then in a lower and subdued tone he added, "for anybody to take an interest in me is a stunner, the dirty tough that i was."
it was bill's own opinion that for him life in the bush was no longer safe, and so, until his future was fully decided, he agreed to assist the clarkes with the work on the ranch. when a few months later, through the death of a brother in the east, george clarke decided to make his home in nova scotia, bill bird said in effect, "where thou goest, i will go."
and it so happens that to-day, down by the eastern sea, the former lumberjack is building a home, a business and a character. he has not again returned west, but he has often told intimate friends that there is a rancher's small home in the distant province which he never forgets; and he thanks god for those who valued a dirty, wrecked, but god-loved man more than furniture and carpets, and whose hospitality and service awakened desires that have transformed a life.
but it was not to bill bird alone that an uplift came. let george clarke speak for himself. his words were spoken as he renewed his acquaintance with the missioner two years later. the audience had dispersed, and george and the speaker walked down the street of the little fishing village. bill bird was the main subject of their conversation. for a long time they stood in the darkness as george narrated all that had transpired after the missioner's departure from the western town. when his story was ended, the missioner clasped his hand and said, "god bless you, clarke, for what you did in bill's behalf. if only we could multiply that kind of effort we could redeem this dominion."
george clung to the extended hand as he said, "you are very good, sir, to say that to me, but i tell you honestly, when i tried to do that little bit for bill bird, i did a deal more for george clarke. i have had my ups and downs as you know. since i've been in the east i've done pretty well on the whole, but honestly, sir, the palmiest days i've ever had, and the best returns my bank-book ever showed, are as nothing in value compared to the satisfaction that came to me and my wife when we saw bill bird solidly on his feet as a christian man. if you're going back by the intercolonial, try to stop over at c——. bill would be mighty glad to see you, and you'll see what the lord can do with a man who has gone even as far as the "snake-room."