44 FOREST OUTINGS 



Low voices and laughter. They surely were enjoying being up at this early 

 hour. They lit a fire in the camp stove near me and put on big kettles to boil. 

 Sleep was impossible so I lazily watched them and looked up through the 

 trees at the sky. Then I got up. 



I went over to investigate the possibilities of getting some breakfast 

 cooked on the crowded stove. I was met with great friendliness and the 

 offer of anything they had. 



"Don't know whether you like liquor or not, lady, but here's some if you 

 care to sample it." One of them proffered a bottle. I politely refused and 

 cooked my oatmeal and cocoa while they moved around me. 



"We're putting up stands to hand out this beer and stuff at, an' there'll 

 be hot dogs and sandwiches. Don't forget it, if you git hungry," one offered. 



"You know the Potlatch Lumber Company?" another asked. 



I nodded. 



"Well, that's us. That is, the mill is divided up into divisions accordin' 

 to what the work is an' there's a safety contest. Whatever division doesn't 

 have an accident for 2 months gits 25 bucks. Us an' another division have 

 gone 2 months now and we're just clubbin' together so's to have more stuff. 

 Our families'll come out here for the day." 



Another truck came in and stopped a way off. That was the other division. 

 They started doing the same things that the first one had. They were all 

 very friendly. I was just about to put on the eggs when I was confronted 

 with a strawberry ice-cream cone. It was impossible in the face of such 

 hospitality to refuse. They would not take no for an answer. 



"Anything we have that you'd like, be sure an' ask fur it." 



One of the men looked up from his work at me. 



"You know, it's nice here. We play softball on the field out there." 



More cars started to come. All day the cattle-guards at the entrance rang 

 and the dust rose over the meadow until it hung like a yellow mist in the sun- 

 light. The woods were alive with people. The kids started eating the minute 

 they got there and ran circles around the picnickers. As the sun grew hot, 

 people broke away and went swimming down the river. 



They shifted about. Little groups formed here and there, then broke up 

 and new groups formed. They walked about in two's and three's under the 



