He saw his way clear to
meeting his obligations without the necessity of hypothecating the
California timber; and was the better pleased for it. With the
break-up of spring he started confidently with the largest drive in
the history of the river, a matter of over two hundred million feet.
This tremendous mass of timber moved practically in three sections.
The first, and smallest, comprised probably thirty millions. It
started from the lowermost rollways on the river, drove rapidly
through the more unobstructed reaches, and was early pocketed above
Monrovia in the Company's distributing booms. The second and
largest section of a hundred million came from the main river and
its largest tributaries. It too made a safe drive; and was brought
to rest in the main booms and in a series of temporary or emergency
booms built along the right bank and upstream from the main works.
The third section containing a remainder of about seventy million
had by the twenty-sixth of June reached the slack water above the
city of Redding.
XXXVIII
The morning of June twenty-sixth dawned clear. Orde was early on
the road before the heat of the day. He drove his buckboard rapidly
over the twelve miles that separated his home from the distributing
booms, for he wanted at once to avoid the heat of the first sun and
to arrive at the commencement of the day's work.
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