50 THE LOG OF A TIMBER CRUISER 
idea or a sentiment he had no compunction whatever 
about breaking in and continuing the thread of his 
discourse. 
This sort of thing was unpleasant. We suggested 
as much to Horace on various occasions, but with- 
out apparent effect. It was evident that if we were 
to enjoy our evenings at all some more radical action 
must be taken. But no one felt like starting a real 
fight. Quarrels in camp are about the last thing 
to be desired; resorted to, if at all, only in an ex- 
tremity. 
We felt, however, that in Horace’s case there could 
be but one result. And true enough before many 
days the inevitable explosion occurred. 
It came about this way. The constant wielding 
of a four pound axe had made of Horace a mighty 
trencherman. One evening, when he had twice made 
the round of the table for supplies, a thought struck 
him. 
“‘It appears to me,’’ he suggested to Frazer, ‘‘ that 
Bert ought to wait on us and eat afterward. I’ve 
always been accustomed to being waited upon.’’ 
Frazer stopped short in the act of swallowing and 
stared at him to see if he were really in earnest. 
Waiting on oneself at table is an invariable camp 
usage in the Southwest. The cook, indeed, as the 
most indispensable member of the party, holds a 
position a little superior to that of the chief. He is 
accorded marked consideration, treated with a 
special and particular brand of courtesy, for upon 
