"Oh, yes, I heard of that!" cried Ulmer Balasco, and for some reason he appeared more at ease. "No wonder Mr. Wilbur recommends you. I'll have to see what I can do. You say you know the business?" "We do--according to the way they work in Maine," answered Owen. "Here are our other recommendations," and he brought them forth. "Those are all good enough, and I reckon you'll fill the bill--if there is any to fill. You can put up here at the camp for the present, and I'll do what I can for you in the morning." CHAPTER XXVI IN AN OREGON FOREST "What do you think of Mr. Balasco?" asked Dale of Owen, after they had left the office of the lumber company. "To tell the truth, I don't think I am going to like him," was Owen's slow answer. "There is a certain something about him that grates on a fellow, but what it is I can't explain." "I think he has a very good opinion of himself," came bluntly from Dale. "No doubt he thinks he is the whole show, as the saying goes." "He is certainly a different man from Mr. Wilbur. How the two came to be partners is a mystery to me." "Perhaps they got together before they met--I mean, got into the company together." "That may be so. And, besides, Mr. Balasco may put on a different front when he meets Mr. Wilbur." The two had been told to make themselves at home around the camp, and had been introduced to one of the foremen, Pelham by name, and to several others. Pelham told them where they could sleep that night, and also told the cook at one of the dining halls he should provide them with meals. Both of the young lumbermen were anxious to see how work was done in this district that was so new and novel to them, and they eagerly accepted the invitation of one of the trainmen to go to an upper yard. "All told, this timber claim is divided into ten camps or yards," said the train hand. "We were working all ten camps about six weeks ago, but Mr. Balasco thought lumber was coming in too fast at the creek, so he cut down the gangs to eight." "How many men in a gang?" questioned Owen. "From thirty to thirty-two." "As many as that?" queried Dale. "How do you divide them up?" "In the first place, there is the boss, or foreman, who, of course, tells what trees to cut and how they shall be dropped." "Yes, we know that." "Then there are two fellers--choppers, I reckon you call 'em--and two sawyers. Next come two barkers, two swampers, a skid maker, about ten laborers, two or three hook tenders, a rope tender, an engineer for the donkey engine, and a bucker. Last of all comes the cook and the cook's helper, and the boy who greases the skids, and also a runner, who carries messages from one telephone office to another." "And you have eight gangs like that?" came from Owen. "That means two hundred and forty hands."