The second apartment was that devoted to eating and general living purposes. The door was close to the cook's shanty, but when the weather grew colder the big cooking stove would be placed directly in the middle of the living room, to add its warmth to the comfort of the place. The stove was of course a wood burner, a square affair capable of taking in a log a yard long. For a dining table the deal table from outside was brought in, with its benches, and half a dozen empty provision boxes were also brought in for extra seats. To keep out the cold the cracks of the entire building were stuffed with mud, and on the inside certain parts were covered with heavy roofing paper and strips of bark. "Now we are ready for cold weather," said Owen, when the cabin was finished and the most of the men of their gang had moved in. He and Dale had a small corner bunk which held but two, and in this they were "as snug as a bug in a rug," as the younger of the lumbermen declared. The last of the choppers had now arrived, and it was found necessary to put up another cabin for them. Dale and Owen, however, did not work on this, but instead spent every day in the depths of the great forest, bringing down one tree after another, as Gilroy, who now had charge of the gang, directed. Each of the young lumbermen proved that he could swing an ax with the best of the workers, and Gilroy pronounced himself satisfied with all they did. "It only shows what a young fellow can do when he's put to it," said the foreman one day to Owen. "Now, half these chaps are merely working for their wages and their grub. They do as little as they can for their money, and the minute the season is over they'll go down to Oldtown or Bangor, or some other city, and blow in every dollar they have earned." "But this camp is better than lots of others." "Yes, I know that. It's because old Winthrop and Mr. Paxton sort out the men they engage. They won't take every tramp who strikes them for a job." The men often worked in sets of fours, and when this happened Dale and Owen's usual companions were Andrews and a short, stout French-Canadian named Jean Colette. Colette was good-natured to the last degree and full of fun in the bargain. "Vat is de use to cry ven de t'ing go wrong," he would say. "My fadder he say you mus' laugh at eferyt'ing, _oui_! I laugh an' I no geet seek, neffair! I like de people to laugh, an' sing, an' dance. Dat ees best, _oui_!" "You're right on that score," said Owen. "But some folks would rather grumble than laugh any day." "Dat is de truf. _Bon!_ You play de feedle, de banyo; he play de mout' harmonee an' sing, an' yo' are happy, _oui_? I like dat. No bad man sing an' play, neffair!" And the little man bobbed his head vigorously. "What a difference between a man like Colette and that Ducrot!" said Dale to Owen, later on. "Yet they come from the same place in Canada, so I've heard."