16. which was impossible. Even with their razor sharp bucksaw

and good wood they couldn’t keep up that rate of working. When the wood was twisted and knotted which it often was, giving it great strength for construction work, of course it slowed them down. Chain saws hadn’t been heard of. They were expected to work throughout the winter in the woods in the unbelievable cold. It was more than any mortal man could endure. They wanted them to work until they dropped and for quite a few that’s what happened. There was an awful lot of illness in the place with some people dying from pneumonia and T.B. As well as V.D. brought in from other places.”
“Did they go back to work at all?”
“Yes, but only after they was offered 50 cents extra each day and then only to peel them cut logs they had already brought out in The Fall.”
By now, Richard’s patience was wearing thin because he couldn’t see what all this had to do with the deaths of John Jones and Emily Jeffrey. So he said, “I thought you were going to tell me the story about the grave?”
That part comes about five years after The Company started up here. Then rather too abruptly to be polite, Richard thanked Oscar for his time and they agreed to meet again so that Richard could hear the rest of his story.
Nothing much new there Richard thought to himself as he moved towards the door. I’ll go and speak with old Samuel Gray and his Missus to listen to what they have to say. At the same instant as he stepped outside, the unmistakable whine of a high velocity bullet crashed though the edge of the doorpost and thudded deep into the long wall of Oscar’s living room behind him. Richard dived to one side rolling over into the cover of Oscar’s